Srmb Udyog To Set Up Rs 7 Crore Greenfield Tmt Bar Unit

Kolkata-based steel manufacturer, SRMB Udgyog Limited, has decided to set up a greenfield TMT bar producing unit at Dankuni, near Kolkata in West Bengal.

The Beriwala-promoted company will spend Rs 6-7 crore for the unit for which it has already bought 20 bighas of land. Ashish Beriwala, director, SRMB said: "The new plant will have production capacity of 1 lakh tonne per annum of TMT bars. The production would begin by mid-2003. The capital expenditure would be met mainly by internal accruals and by debt."

The company has also approached West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) for incentives such as electricity subsidy and other schemes, Beriwala said. The company has a manufacturing unit at Paharpur with capacity of 1 lakh tonne. It reported 55 per cent capacity utilisation.

SRMB also does trading of TMT bars of other manufacturers. It recorded a turnover of Rs 110 crore in 2000-1 out of which 60 per cent comes from manufacturing and the rest from trading.

SRMB is the fourth largest manufacturer of TMT (thermo-mechanically treated) bars in the country after SAIL, Tata Steel and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.

Beriwala said that TMT bars were better than the conventional bars, although the market was yet to pick up in the domestic arena.

The company plans to export TMT bars to the market of the SAARC countries. Currently, the company's export earnings were $ 80,000 per month, Beriwala said.

The company is also in the process of expanding its dealer-distributor network. At present, it has 40-50 dealers and it wants to increase it to 150 in four months.