Jamshedpur: Tata Steel celebrated its performance in the fiscal year ending March 31 last by cutting cake on the first day of the Financial Year 2014-15 on Tuesday as it registered a growth between 11 to 13 per cent in the production of hot metal, crude steel and saleable steel following a robust performance.
Reasons to cheer were too many for the steel major today as not only Tata Steel, but its subsidiaries too, registered record production growth and a target achievement beyond its own expectations. Cakes were cut in the various departments of the company and its subsidiaries on Tuesday.
Tata Steel managing director TV Narendran, while announcing the outstanding performance of the company, said, “Despite various obstacles, we have grown faster than the GDP growth. We faced various challenges such as in commissioning new facilities and tackling raw materials issue. But still the sales were up by 8.52 per cent and our production went up by a whopping margin.”
According to figures released by the company, 0the hot metal and crude steel production were up by 11.74 per cent and 12.55 per cent respectively as compared to figures of last fiscal in the just ended financial year. The saleable steel production was higher by 12.72 per cent at 8.95 Million Tonnes.
Speaking about the next year target, the Tata Steel MD said the company’s focus was on the commissioning of the Kalinganagar Project in Orissa. He said the company had so far invested around Rs 20,000 crore to fuel its growth and expansion.
Mentioning environment clearance hurdles on the path of its many ongoing projects, the Tata Steel MD said the company soon expected to tide over the same as it had fulfilled the mandatory requirements.
Narendra said a growth of 5 to 6 per cent in the GDP was expected as against a steel consumption growth of 6-8 per cent. He said the company could expect to grow provided more investment was made into infrastructure projects.
Asked about the steel major’s expectations from the new regime in New Delhi in the next couple of months, Narendran said, “Irrespective of who forms the government at the Centre, we expect it to motivate the steel industry by investing more in the infrastructure projects. This will help the nation’s growth as well as the growth of the steel industry. This will help us enhance our efficiency and boost demand for steel.”
The Tata Steel MD further said that talks were being held with the state government committee comprising three Secretarylevel officials on the Eastern Corridor Project. He further said that the process to acquire 550 acres of land was underway for the setting up of airport in Seraikela-Kharsawan.
“The Central government plans to set up five airports in Jharkhand. One of them will be in SeraikelaKharsawan while another one will be in Chakulia,” said Sunil Bhaskaran, vice president (corporate services), Tata Steel.
On safety issues, the Tata Steel MD said the company was concerned about the well-being of people in and around the city. He further said the company had handed over a plan to the state government regarding shifting of various institutions at Sakchi under Tata Steel’s expansion plan.
