Ushering into new financial Year (FY) 2016-17 Tata Steel MD TV Narendran said the biggest challenge for Tata Steel in the new fiscal will be the successful commissioning of steel plant Kalinganagar (in Odisha).
Addressing a press meet at Centre for Excellence, the managing director said that the company is focused on the successful commissioning of the Kalinganagar project in the new fiscal and with the improved scenario they are hopeful of achieving it.
Incidentally, Tata Steel commissioned the first phase (3 million tonnes per annum) of its 6 MTPA capacity Kalinganagar Steel Plant — the largest single-location greenfield steel project in India — in Odisha in November last year. Narendran said that Tata Steel is focusing on reducing cost of production.
Expressing concerns over the rise in steel imports from China last year, he said that Indian steel companies are affected by the oversupply of steel in global markets which has led to a surge in imports from countries like China. Exports from China, Russia, Korea and Japan have surged to all-time highs because of their sluggish domestic demand, excess capacity and competitive currencies.
“ We, however, are confident that domestic consumption will go up in 2016 with initiatives like building smart cities and the Government’s renewed focus on infrastructure. The minimum import price introduced by India is also a welcome decision, which will help domestic steel producers. However, its real impact would be visible only in near future,” noted Narendran.
Meanwhile, Tata Steel vice-president (corporate services) Sunil Bhaskaran who was jointly addressing media along with Tata Steel managing director T. V Narendran and president TQM and steel business, Tata Steel, Anand Sen at the Center For Excellence (CFE) , refrained from giving an exact timeframe for commencement of work on Eastern corridor and Manipal Medical cradle.
“We are waiting for improvement of the ground situation and then we will approach the banks for financial closure for the eastern corridor project. We are hopeful of early commencement of the project,” said Sunil Bhaskaran.
In 2011, Tata Steel had proposed the Rs 1200-crore eastern corridor project and optimistically given a two-year deadline.
However, bureaucratic hurdles, land acquisition hassles and slump in steel sector have delayed the project which envisaged flyovers and arterial roads linking Tatanagar Station and highways (NH-33).