Vizag Steel Plant sees record sales in March

Growth was recorded in production of hot metal and iron & steel with a cumulative production of 3.81 mn tonnes and 3.4 mn tonnes respectively

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has recorded the best-ever monthly sales of Rs 2,136 crore in March 2013, with a cumulative sales of Rs 13,650 crore in FY-13. Exports at Rs 601 crore registered a growth of 45 per cent and rural sales improved 15 per cent.

Growth was recorded in production of hot metal and iron & steel with a cumulative production of 3.81 million tonnes and 3.4 million tonnes respectively. Captive power generation at 211 Mw during 2012-13 was the highest during the last five years. This helped the company maintain the production level despite power restrictions imposed by the state grid during the last eight months, a company release stated.

The steel plant also registered improved performance in various techno-economic parametres with 8 per cent growth in labour productivity; 6 per cent in specific water consumption; 4 per cent in sinter productivity; and 12 per cent in average converter life.

Expenditure on CSR was 11 per cent higher while investment in R&D grew 52 per cent during the period. The capex expenditure was around Rs 1,300 crore. VSP paid Rs 1,652 crore during 2012-13 to the Centre towards redemption of preferential equity and payment of dividend.

The distribution network also increased 54 per cent, while the sale of branded products grew 6 per cent.