State-controlled producer Steel Authority of India (Sail) registered its highest ever crude steel output of 18.3mn t in the April 2022-March 2023 fiscal year.
Output was higher by 5.2pc from 17.4mn t in 2021-22. Sail also recorded a 3.6pc increase in hot metal production to 19.4mn t during the period.
The company has been accelerating production with a focus on more value-added and special steel production, it said.
Firm demand, led by the Indian government's infrastructure push, was the main reason behind the company's higher production, Sail said in February.
It plans to expand its current capacity by 12mn-13mn t by 2030-31, which includes removing bottlenecks to existing operations that will increase capacity by 3mn t in the next 3-4 years. It also plans to expand capacity by 4.5mn t/yr at the IISCO Burnpur steel plant in West Bengal state from the current 2.5mn t/yr. Capital expenditure for expansion will start from 2024-25.
Sail also received two approvals under the government's production-linked incentive scheme for specialty steel in December 2022 in the subcategories of asymmetric and head hardened rails.
