Jindal Steel supplying rail to Indian Railways

India's Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) is supplying 100,000t of rail to Indian Railways, making it the only private-sector company to supply rail to the state-run monopoly.

JSPL dispatched the first rake load of rail to Indian Railways on 15 August and plans to complete its contract, which it won in a global tender, by the end of this year.

Indian Railways had over the past several decades procured rail exclusively from state-controlled Sail, but became frustrated in the last few years with Sail's inability to meet its supply targets, as it aggressively adds new tracks and modernises existing ones.

Sail supplied 903,000t of rail to Indian Railways in the 2017-18 financial year that ended 31 March, up by 39pc from 2016-17, as a new rail mill became operational at Sail's Bhilai steel plant in January 2017.

The federal budget for 2018-19 includes adding an extra two to four tracks to around 18,000km of single tracks, while 5,000km of narrow gauge railway lines will be converted to broad gauge railway tracks.

Railways account for the biggest share of India's total planned infrastructure spending of $94bn in 2018-19.

Railroad spending generates 640t of steel demand per km of track on average globally, according to US bank Morgan Stanley. Building railway tracks is less steel-intensive than building bridges or buildings.

JSPL aims to be a reliable, long-term supplier of rail to Indian Railways, said chairman Naveen Jindal.

JSPL set up a 5mn t/yr integrated steel plant in the east Indian town of Angul in 2017-18. The plant is expected to operate at around 90-95pc of its rated capacity by 31 March next year.