State-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of Indian Limited (SAIL) said it will expand its production capacity to 18 million tonnes (MT) from existing 14 MT by the end of current financial year.
“Our phase-I capacity expansion target is 24 MT. Of that, this year we will be starting two new blast furnaces, our total hot metal production capacity will go up to 18 MT by the end of the (financial) year,” SAIL Chairman C S Verma said.
Speaking to media persons after the half-yearly review of company's performance by the government, he said that two new blast furnaces at its Rourkela and Burnpur plants will become operational in next few months.
Besides, the company would also be commissioning a new cold rolling mill at Bokaro plant by the fiscal end, he said, adding that SAIL has spent about Rs 39,000 crore so far on capacity expansion (out of a targeted investment of Rs 72,000 crore).
According to SAIL Chairman Verma, the company is aiming to increase its market share up to 30 per cent by 2020 and the steelmaker will be expanding its capacity to 45 MT by then.
The state-owned company is at present the largest steel producer with a capacity of 14 MT. Besides, it has a total market share of about 18 per cent.
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