Sail To Pare 20,000 Staff In Two Years

The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is planning to reduce its staff strength by 20,000 in the next two years.

The company, in this regard, is set to float a fresh voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) next week to pare around 10,000 employees this year.

A K Singh, director (commercial), SAIL, said, "Our plan is to reduce the workforce to less than one lakh in two years. In many of our plants substantial employees appear to be surplus. However, we will make sure that our expertise in certain areas is not lost as a result of the VRSs."

Under the third round of VRS, which closed on September 15, around 6,500 employees opted for the scheme out of which around 1,200 were in the executive category.

In the first and second round, close to 6,000 and 13.600 employees, respectively, chose to opt for the schemes. The total employee strength of the company today stands at 1.25 lakh.

Meanwhile, the steel major today launched its newly developed high corrosion resistant structural steel (HCRS).

According to Singh, it was imperative to develop a kind of steel which would not only minimise corrosion and increase the life span, but also save on material cost.

S Dubey, executive director, marketing (long products), SAIL, said, "Currently, when the industry is going through a downturn, the call of the hour is to reduce the cost of production. The chemical composition of HCRS is such that the substitution of relatively costly chrome and nickel by phosphorus and carbon is possible without compromising on the quality."

HCRS was developed by SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant in conjunction with its Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel in Ranchi.