Posted on 11 Aug 2021
Steel Authority of India (Sail) aims to finalise in the next 15-18 months the details of its next-stage modernisation and expansion plan to eventually double steelmaking capacity to 50 million tonnes/year. Work on the expansion will then start in the fiscal year through March 2024 (FY24), Kallanish notes.
The public sector unit is presently in the middle of carrying out a INR 70,000 crore ($9.41 billion) expansion programme to boost capacity to 21.4m t/y.
“In the next round of modernisation and expansion, likely to start from FY24, Sail will look at expanding capacity by 12-14m t/y in the first phase at the Bokaro, Burnpur, and Rourkela units,” says Sail. “Sail has already completed land surveys in Rourkela and Bokaro, and has land parcels available to support a brownfield expansion.”
The company intends to enhance its Durgapur Steel Plant capacity from 2.5m t/y to 7.5m t/y and Rourkela Steel Plant capacity from 3.7m t/y to 8.8m t/y. Bokaro Steel Plant’s capacity will be raised to 9.5m t/y and IISCO’s to 3m t/y in the first phase and subsequently to 7.3m t/y in the next phase.
“Taking cues from the previous expansion, the management informed that it would not embark on all expansion projects in one go,” brokerage Motilal Oswal says in a report. “Sail would pursue it in a manner that there is a sufficient time gap between two large payments.”
There is no plan to raise steelmaking capacity at Bhilai Steel Plant in the first phase. Its capacity will be raised to 12m t/y in the second phase from the current 7m t/y, and subsequently to 14m t/y by FY30.
Sail’s expansion plan is in line with the National Steel Policy that aims to create an installed steelmaking capacity in India of 300m t/y by FY31.
Source:Kallanish
