From moulding markets to changing mindset, how Vedanta revived Electrosteel

The second of a four-part series on IBC takes a look at how Vedanta restored faith of suppliers and customers and updated products to turn around the stressed plant

Building a greenfield steel mill takes a long time. The path is strewn with challenges. Getting approvals is painful. When Vedanta acquired a running concern, Electrosteel Steels, in June 2018, therefore, it could have been forgiven for congratulating itself on taking the easier option. 

In the 18 months since then, Vedanta has realised that turning around a stressed steel plant can be just as hard. A blast furnace gone kaput, raw material suppliers loath to risk their inputs to an insolvent steel unit, and markets not keen to absorb its products. 

“Electrosteel was being run by a team led by