SAIL to begin producing automobile quality steel by 2013

The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is setting up a 1.2 million ton per annum (MTPA) plant at Bokaro, in the State of Jharkhand, in India, that would manufacture top quality steel. Sridhar Varadrajan, executive director, RDCIS (SAIL) said that the plant dedicated to produce automobile grade steel would make the country less dependent on imports.
“The Bokaro plant would be first of this kind in the country. The plant would start working by March 2013 with its 1.2 MTPA capacity. We are expecting that the initiative would make us less dependent on imports within 3-4 years time,” Varadrajan said.
Auto manufacturers are presently heavily dependent on foreign countries for their steel needs, making the business costlier for them. Varadrajan also expressed concerns that the market share of SAIL in the Indian market has been declining, hovering at around 25%. “We are working hard to raise the market share up to 30%. SAIL is losing out to new players thus we have planned to come up with 5-6 new rolling mills at Bhilai, Bokaro, ISSCO and Raipur plants,” Varadrajan added. (September 29, 2012)