RINL to increase steel consumption in rural India

Navratna company Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (RINL-VSL), today launched a Rural Dealership Scheme (RDS) for increasing per capita steel consumption in remote areas of the country.

“The per capital steel consumption has risen to about 18 kg in India from 2 kg in 2005, however, it is still quite low, especially in some states,” RINL-VSL CMD Pradeep Kumar Bishnoi told Business Standard on the sidelines of the national launch here.

He said the company aimed at increasing the steel consumption in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and the North-Eastern states. RINL-VSL, the public sector unit (PSU) under the union steel ministry, is popularly known as Vizag Steel, which is India’s first shore-based integrated steel plant.

“If we want to increase steel consumption in the country, we have to start from the rural areas and our scheme is an effort to make available Vizag Steel to actual users by reaching the interiors,” he added.

The company is looking at appointing a rural dealership in every block of the country.

“We have chalked out strategy to supply our products at the doorsteps of our rural dealerships without any charge keeping in mind poor transport facilities in the remote pockets,” Bishnoi informed.

RINL will take regular feedbacks from its dealers regarding its new initiative and improve upon its operations of reaching out to the rural masses. The product profile of the company includes TMT rebars, wire rods, rounds, structurals and squares used in infrastructure projects and retail market.

The company has an annual capacity of 3.2 million tonnes (MT) of liquid steel and turnover of about Rs 11,000 crore. RINL is now doubling its capacity to 6.3 MT per annum at a cost of Rs 12,500 crore, which will be operational by 2011-12.

It has pan-India marketing distribution network comprising five regional offices, 23 branch offices and stockyards, four consignment sales agents and 120 district level dealers.

RINL is also looking at going public soon and after the due diligence, appropriate steps for listing would be taken.