SAIL's J&K business up 85% in 5 years

With the launch of the Rs 2,700 crore Kashmir rail project and hydroelectric power projects in Jammu & Kashmir, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has recorded an overall growth rate of nearly 85 per cent in its business in just five years in the state.

Senior officials of the company in the region attribute the sharp hike in growth to the use of steel products on the 320-km-long Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project, which has also given a large boost to the economy of the region.

The construction of various hydel power projects like Uri, Sewa, Bhaglihar, and Dul-Hasti and agencies like the Border Roads Organisation/GREF connected with the construction of roads, bridges and tunnels have contributed to the growth.

The Kashmir rail project, launched in 2000, increased its pace of work after 2002 and in just one year, a three-fold hike in sales was recorded.

As compared to Himachal, Haryana and Punjab, J&K has shown a tremendous growth rate in the past 3-4 years in SAIL's business.

The figures compiled from the SAIL offices in the Jammu & Srinagar divisions indicate the turnover of the company in the region was Rs 17 crore in 2001-02 and in 2002-03, it went up by just Rs 4 crore.

Then in 2003-04, it showed an increase in the business from Rs 21 crore to Rs 62 crore, and in 2004-05 the turnover was Rs 90 crore.

In 2005-06, the company earned Rs 160 crore, showing nearly 77 per cent growth over the previous year's business.

A senior SAIL official said the consumption of steel in the Jammu region was nearly 5,000 tonnes per month and it is continuously showing an increasing trend. The consumption of steel products in Kashmir has been much less than the Jammu region.

For the Kashmir rail project, the major purchasers of SAIL products are Konkon Railways, Gammon India Ltd, Jai Parkash Industries, Hindustan Construction Corporation, AFCON and L&T.