SAIL invests Rs 8,000 crore in ISP

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has committed funds to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore for the technological upgradation of the IISCO Steel Plant (ISP), following the merger of the Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) with its parent plant SAIL.

With the amalgamation of IISCO on February 16, 2006, SAIL has revised its target of 20 million tonnes (MT) to 22.5 MT by 2011-12.

The expected investment plan has also been upgraded to Rs 35,000 crore from Rs 25,000 crore.

ISP's growth plan aims at raising the annual hot metal production capacity to 2.5 MT by 2011-12 from a level of 0.35 MT in 2004-05.

''We shall in the long run raise the overall annual capacity of the plant to 3 MT of hot metal by replacing the existing stream of 1.5 MT annual capacity,'' ISP Managing Director Nilotpal Roy said.

SAIL aims to develop the Chiria iron ore mine of ISP, now manually operated, to 7 MT per year from 2011-12.

The inclusion of ISP's mines under SAIL is in tune with the company's corporate strategy to meet the proposed enhanced requirement of iron ore.

IISCO, operating in loss for several decades, recorded a net profit of Rs 46.6 crore on a turnover of Rs 1,487 crore in 2004-05 as against a profit of Rs 27 crore on a turnover of Rs 1,051 crore in 2003-04.

IISCO produced 3.55 lakh tonnes of crude steel and 2.48 lakh tonnes of saleable steel in the first ten months of the current financial year 2005-06 recording a growth of 17 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

ISP produces heavy, medium and light structurals, bars and rods, rail and pig iron.

UNI PV SS ND1628