Necessary for steel units to adopt cost-cutting steps:RINL MD

It is necessary for steel units to adopt cost-cutting measures to surviveas worldwide the market is witnessing a downturn, Chairman and Managing Director of Rastriya Ispat Nigam Limited P K Rath said on Friday.

RINL is the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

He said the long-term prospects for steel market were very bright, but in the short time the industry would have to come to grips with such difficulties.

"The Visakhapatnam steel plant is adopting all cost-cutting measures and producing quality steel to cater to the market needs," he added.

Rath said the forged wheel plant of the RINL at Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh would be ready for commissioning in September.

"We have all the facilities in our integrated steel plant. These difficult days for the steel units will not last long.We are hopeful of better days soon, though the first quarter was not very encouraging," he said.

He said it was necessary for the industry to adopt eco-friendly measures and to invest in such technologies.

Rath was delivering the keynote address at a one-day seminar on cost-effective technologies and market for long products, organised by the Steel and Metallurgy magazine.

Sanjay Agarwal, senior vice-president (sales and marketing), of JSW Steel Ltd, said finance availability was oneof the biggest problems plaguing the industry and the government should also announce a stimulus package.

Subrata Mitra, Joint Managing Director of M N Dastur and Co Ltd, said there was scope even for smaller steel units with a capacity of 1 or 1.5 million tonnes, if the plants are properly designed and right technologies adopted.

Nirmalya Mukherjee, editor of the magazine who moderated the debate, said the Union Government's plan to invest Rs 20 lakh crore on infra development would give a tremendous boost to the steel sector.