Anticipating the "numerous challenges and opportunities" emerging from the rapidly changing steel landscape of the country with India entering a steel-intensive phase of development, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is reorienting its approach and strategies accordingly, said SAIL Chairman Mr. S.K. Roongta at the company's 36th Annual General Meeting held at Subroto Park here today. "The challenge of growth is well recognised," and SAIL is decisively proceeding towards long-term sustained growth, he told the company's shareholders attending the meet.
The company and the Indian steel industry has come, informed Mr. Roongta, "under the conflicting pressures of contending with sharply rising input costs, yet need to contain its product prices in order to check inflation. The industry has responded to the Government's concerns on steel price rise. However, with the country again becoming a net importer of steel, as a long-term solution it is imperative that new production capacities come up. Moderating prices in spite of substantial increases in input costs and yet maintaining margins to generate resources for further investments, is going to be a tough challenge for the steel players."
The record turnover and profit, best-ever operating efficiency parameters and highest-ever production and sales achieved by SAIL during 2007-08 and in the first quarter of the current financial year indicated the success of the company's strategies, especially relating to improvement in equipments and labour productivity, aggressive cost cutting and jump in value-added steel production, felt Mr. Roongta. SAIL's confidence about sustained growth in steel consumption in the country remains intact, in view of "the steel-intensive development being witnessed in the Indian economy and the major steel-consuming industrial sectors", he remarked, and reiterated SAIL's plan to proceed with the ongoing modernisation & expansion programme to take hot metal production capacity to 26 million tonnes.
Sharing at length the measures taken in this regard, Mr. Roongta told the company's shareholders that SAIL is strengthening raw material security and distribution network, giving impetus to new business initiatives through collaborations and joint ventures, and developing new and superior grades of steel to provide enhanced value to customers. In addition to the various strategies being implemented for meeting SAIL's raw material needs, Mr. Roongta informed that the company has already started the process for development of a four million tonne per annum capacity coking coal block with captive washery at Tasra and development of Sitanala coking coal block.
