SAIL chalks out plan to up production at mines

To ensure total iron ore security, the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has chalked out a corporate plan to produce 26 million tonnes of hot metal by 2010-11, and it has embarked on a massive de-bottlenecking exercise at its mines to ramp up production.

“SAIL will need about 42 million tonnes of iron ore by 2010-11 and to meet this requirement, a de-bottlenecking exercise has been undertaken in all the mines of the raw materials division to jack up production,” said M Roy, executive director, SAIL (raw materials division).

The de-bottlenecking exercise would be done mainly through technological upgradation, he said.

Asked about the investment for the de-bottlenecking exercise, Roy said technological upgradation would not require any big investment. “It may require only a few hundred crores,” he said.

New mines
He pointed out that the company was working on both short-term (which includes de-bottlenecking) and long-term projects (which involves development of new mines) in tandem.

SAIL’s mines would produce over 30 million tonnes iron ore by 2010-11, and the Rajhara and Dalli mines of Bhilai Steel plant, that are not under SAIL’s raw materials division, would produce the remaining.

He said it was a big challenge to push up production from the current 18 million tonnes to 30 million tonnes in about four years.

Post the de-bottlenecking process the capacity of Bolani mine would go up from 4.2 mt to 10 mt, while that of Meghahatuburu would increase from 4.3 mt to 6.3 mt.

Ore security
Similarly, Kiriburu and Gua would have an increased capacity of 5.5 mt and 4 mt, while Barsua and Chiria would be 3 mt and 1.3 mt. Another one million tonnes would be produced at Kalta mine.

Asked whether SAIL would require to purchase iron ore to meet its requirement, Roy said the company was self-sufficient in this regard.

The captive mines have always ensured iron ore security and this would continue.

Roy said SAIL also planned to develop two new mines at Chiria and Taldih after 2011.

Asked whether SAIL was still facing a problem over Chiria, he said, “We are going ahead with our plans in Chiria.”

Roy said to be able to use low grade iron ore, the company has decided to set up pelletisation plants at some of its mines.

The first pelletisation plant would come up at the Gua mine for which expression of interest had been invited. The plant would be ready by 2010.

Consultants were being appointed to set up similar plants at other mines including Kiriburi, Meghahatuburu, Barsua and Bolani.

Q3 Results As on 29/01/2008

Maruti Suzuki Q3 net up 24%

Maruti Suzuki India today reported a 24% increase in net profit at Rs 467.04 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 376.41 crore in Q3FY07.

According to a release issued to the BSE today, total income increased to Rs 4,844.80 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 3,807.90 crore in Q3FY07.

SAIL Q3 net up 31%

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) today reported a 31.5% rise in net profit (standalone) at Rs 1,934.66 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007, when compared with Rs 1,471.19 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

According to a release issued by SAIL to the BSE today, total income increased 12.4% to Rs 9,847.64 crore for Q3FY08 from Rs 8,760.16 crore in the quarter ended December, 2006.

Nalco Q3 net down 43%

Nalco today announced a 42.46% dip in net profit at Rs 329.44 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 as against Rs 572.60 crore in Q3FY07.

According to a release to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company's total income decreased to Rs 1247.26 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 1546.40 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006.

Havells India Q3 net up 44%

Electrical and power distribution equipment company Havells India’s net profit jumped 44% to Rs 37 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2007 as against Rs 26 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

Revenue during the third quarter also increased by 37% to Rs 535 crore as against Rs 301 crore during the corresponding quarter of the last year, the company said in a statement.

The performance of the switchgear sales continued with the healthy trend, showing a growth of 52% to Rs 141 crore from Rs 93 crores achieved in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The cable & wire business segment showed a growth of 28% with Rs 241 crore as against Rs 189 crore in the same period last year.

Anil Gupta, joint managing director, Havells India, said: "The quarter gone by has been remarkable for the company wherein we consolidated our market share reflected in the financial performance. This performance reflects the fundamental strengths of our business model, which is driving us towards becoming the leading player globally in the electrical product and power distribution equipment space."

Aztecsoft Q3 net down 80% at Rs 2.2cr

Aztecsoft today reported 80% dip in net profit at Rs 2.19 crore for the third quarter of 2007-08 when compared to the same period last fiscal.

The company has attributed the massive dip to certain one-time costs such as a provision of bonus due to a retrospective amendment of Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; training of campus hires and; reduction in the currency exchange rate for the quarter by 2.23%.

The revenue for the period was Rs 63.31 crore, a 11.25% dip when compared to the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

On a year-on-year basis, the revenue growth in US dollar terms was around 14%.

The company has continued to take a hit following the transfer of the Offshore Development Centre (ODC) operations of Dendrite International. The Dendrite ODC, which contributed about 10% of Aztecsoft's consolidated revenue, was acquired by Dendrite International in January 2007.

The operating profit stood at Rs 2.54 crore, a 78% decline when compared to Q3 2006-07.

On a sequential basis, the net profit declined by 68% while the revenue improved marginally by 2.1%. In US dollar terms, the revenue grew by 5% quarter-on-quarter.

Great Eastern Shipping Q3 net up 77%

Great Eastern Shipping Company today announced a 77% increase in net profit at Rs 293.57 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 165.85 crore in Q3FY07.

According to a release to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company's total income increased to Rs 744.28 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 519.85 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006

Eicher Motors Q3 net declines 11%

Eicher Motors registered a 11.2 % decline in net profit at Rs 15.8 crore for quarter ended December 31, 2007 as against Rs 17.8 crore in the previous quarter year-on-year (yoy).

The company's total income (net of excise) grew 11 % for the quarter amounted to Rs 554.1 crores as against a total income (net of excise) of Rs 499 crore in the previous comparable quarter. Its EBITDA for the quarter declined 3.4% at Rs 36.5 crores when compared with Rs 37.8 crores in the previous quarter.

Asian Paints Q3 net up 66%

Asian Paints today announced a 66.50% increase in net profit at Rs 118.87 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 71.39 crore in Q3FY07.

According to a release to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company's total income increased to Rs 1,190.82 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 from Rs 943.27 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006

Tata Steel, SAIL form JV for coal mining

Tata Steel today announced it has signed an equal stakes joint venture agreement with Steel Authority of India (SAIL), for coal mining activities in India.

According to an official release issued by Tata Steel to the BSE today, the JV agreement was signed by S K Roongta, chairman, SAIL, and B Muthuraman, managing director, Tata Steel.

Four suitable medium coking coal blocks in the state of Jharkhand with reserves of around 600 million tonne are under evaluation for this purpose by a joint working group of SAIL and Tata Steel. On allotment of the blocks, the JVC will develop and carry out mining operations for the captive use by SAIL and Tata Steel. Both the companies are expanding their steel making capacities and require secure sources of key raw material inputs like coking coal.

Tata Steel and SAIL had also hiked steel prices this week due to a 10% rise in raw material costs of iron ore and coke during the past few months.

After signing ther agreement, Roongta said: "As the country's steel industry enters a high and sustainable growth phase, raw material availability has assumed critical importance. In order to ensure security of coking coal supplies, it is imperative to augment indigenous coking coal availability. With both SAIL and Tata Steel having distinct strengths in coal mining, this JVC will generate synergy to ensure security of coking coal supplies for both partners."

On his part, Muthuraman said: "India has very limited reserves of hard and semi soft coking coal. With the Indian steel industry poised for a robust growth, it is imperative for us to utilise this scarce resource in the best possible manner. Both SAIL and Tata Steel have unique strengths and capabilities and we see a strong case to synergise these complementary strengths through this joint venture."

Tata Steel, SAIL to form JV for coal mining

Tata Steel and state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) are all set to form a joint venture for coal blocks.

"SAIL and Tata Steel are likely to sign an agreement to form a joint venture company for mining four coking coal blocks, most likely in Jharkhand which has reserves of about 500 million tonne for meeting their production needs," a senior government official told PTI.

He said both companies would seek to put in place a formal JV company and then begin scouting for more coal blocks. The board would have representatives from both the companies. The new entity is likely to have an initial capital of Rs 2 crore to be shared equally by the partners.

While SAIL is planning to increase output to 26 million tonne at a cost of more than Rs 50,000 crore, Tata is executing major brownfield and greenfield expansion projects.

Sail bets Rs 20,000 crore on West Bengal

State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (Sail) will invest Rs 20,000 crore in West Bengal, Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said today. This is almost two-fifths of the Rs 53,000 crore spread planned by the country’s largest steel maker.

Giving a break-up, Paswan said the company will invest Rs 13,500 crore in the IISCO Steel Plant at Kulti (up from the original plan of Rs 9,600 crore), Rs 5,600 crore in the Durgapur Steel Plant and the balance in the Alloy Steel Plant (also at Durgapur).

This will raise Sail’s annual hot metal production from the current 14.6 million tonnes to 26 million tonnes.

Paswan said this was the largest investment being made by Sail in any state and it could put more money into West Bengal in the months to come.

The announcement came even as violent protests have happened at Nandigram against land acquisition for a special economic zone planned by Indonesia’s Salim group. Protests had also taken place against Tata Motors’ small car facility at Singur and the matter is in the courts.

Addressing a large gathering at the inauguration of the Sail Growth Works (formerly Kulti Works), Paswan said an expert committee would determine the total investment and growth plan for the unit-shut since 2003, while the foundry works would commence operations over the next three months.

Paswan also announced that the Centre was keen on reviving the National Iron and Steel Company, owned by the West Bengal government and closed for the last six years.

Paswan said he had asked the West Bengal government to waive the loans and liabilities to the company so that it could be started on a clean slate. NISCO could be merged into Sail.

The occasion was attended by Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, even as West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen gave it a miss.

However, Mukherjee batted for the state government and spoke in favour of land acquisition for industrialisation.