Steel Minister not satisfied with SAIL's performance

Verma also expressed concern over the progress of ongoing modernisation and expansion plans of the SAIL

Dissatisfied with the performance of SAIL, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma today asked the PSU to complete the expansion of projects within a short period of time so as to improve profitability.

"Verma was not satisfied with the performance of SAIL on the whole and advised the company to take corrective measures immediately," said an official release, issued following the minister's review of the performance and progress made by the firm on its ongoing modernisation and expansion.

Verma also expressed concern over the progress of ongoing modernisation and expansion plans of the Steel Authority of India ltd and directed it to bring synergy in various activities of expansion so that integrated commissioning of facilities was achieved quickly.

"The Minister said that profitability of the company can improve only if the expansion projects are completed and stabilised within a short period of time," it added.

SAIL is investing a whopping Rs 61,870 crore to jack up production capacity from 12.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 21.4 MTPA in the current phase. Besides, a provision of Rs 10,264 crore has been made towards investment in existing mines under Raw Materials Division (RMD) and development of Rowghat Mine.

Against this, an expenditure of Rs 44,112 crore has been incurred till March 2013, according to a recent reply of the Minister in the Lok Sabha.

The statement said Verma also expressed concern over the performance of Durgapur and Bokaro steel plants and advised the company to prepare an action plan for improving the same.

Recording a growth of just 1% over the previous fiscal, SAIL had produced 14.27 million tonnes hot metal in 2012-13. Total sales registered a growth of 2.8% in the fourth quarter at 3.24 million tonnes as compared to the corresponding period last year.