RINL hopes to expand capacity to 4.5mt next fiscal

An official says company spending around Rs 12,500 crore to increase its capacity to 6.3 mt

Public sector steel firm Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) is likely to increase its production capacity to 4.5 million tonne by the end of next fiscal, a top company official has said.

"We hope to expand our manufacturing capacity to 4.5 million tonne (mt) by the end of the next fiscal," a senior RINL official, who wished not to be quoted, told PTI.

The public sector steel firm is currently pursuing an expansion drive to take it capacity to 6.3 mt from the present 3 mt.

As per the official, the company hopes to complete 5.3 mt capacity by 2015-16 and will achieve 6.3 mt by FY17.

The company is spending around Rs 12,500 crore to increase its capacity to 6.3 mt, the official added.

The steel firm, of late, has increased its focus on exports to beat slowdown in domestic demand along with taking advantage of a rupee fall.

"We see exports volume going up to around 1 mt by FY17," the official said.

Earlier, the company had said it was eyeing to double its exports income to Rs 1,200 crore in the near future.

The Navaratna company has a 3-mt steel production capacity at Visakhapatnam and is currently undertaking expansion at its AP unit and is into long product market.