Vizag Steel Plant registers 4% revenue growth to Rs 12,781 crore

Completes expansion to 6.3 mt from 3 mt, this year's production is expected to touch full capacity

Public-sector Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), also known as Vizag Steel Plant (VSP), has registered 4 per cent growth in revenues to Rs 12,781 crore during the year ended March 31, 2017, against Rs 12,281 crore the previous year. The revenue includes exports worth of Rs 1,048 crore which remained flat when compared with last year.

RINL Chairman and Managing Director P Madhusudan said the steel plant had recorded impressive performance on all fronts of its operations and sales in 2016-17.

The VSP achieved growth of 11 per cent in hot metal production, 10 per cent in liquid steel, 16 per cent in finished steel and 10 per cent in saleable steel production during the year. Production of wire rod mill-2 recorded a growth of 43 per cent while gross sinter production touched a 6-million tonne mark.

The company has completed the capacity expansion to 6.3 million tonnes from 3 million tonnes in the past by investing Rs 12,300 crore, and this year's production is expected to touch the full capacity. RINL is investing another Rs 4,000 crore to achieve an incremental capacity growth of 1 million tonne through modernisation of the existing infrastructure, taking the total installed capacity to 7.3 million tonnes by 2017-18, according to Madhusudan.

In tune with the government's policy to increase the consumption of steel in rural areas, RINL has increased its rural dealership from 235 to 417. A brand promotion campaign has already been launched in the country with badminton star P V Sindhu as its brand ambassador as well as the train branding on New Delhi-bound Vizag Steel Samta/Swarna Jayanthi Express.