Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) is planning to produce highly specialised steel, which can be used in space and defence applications and for construction of nuclear power plants.
“In our current expansion programme, we can produce seamless pipes and flat products and a few other high quality steel. Apart from this, we are planning to set up units to produce highly specialised steel, which cannot be produced in India currently,” said VSP chairman and managing director PK Bishnoi. These new products would increase company’s profitability, he added.
Bishnoi was speaking after inaugurating a two-day ‘Partner summit-2011’ here.
The steel plant is enhancing its production capacity to 6.3 million tonne from 3 million tonne with an investment of more than Rs 12,000 crore. It has proposed to increase the capacity to 7.3 million tonne by 2013-14, 11 million tonne by 2015-16 and 20 million tonne by 2020-21. “By that time, VSP would be the single location, largest steel producing plant in the world,” he said.
The company is also upgrading and modernising its plants. This is being done to reduce the production cost and increase productivity. “Our power generation from waste gases would increase to 90 Mw from the existing 40 Mw and the company would get another 120 Mw power from blast furnace lean gasses,” he said.
Post expansion, VSP expects its sales turnover to touch Rs 27,000 crore. “In 2010-11, our turnover was Rs 11,500 and would increase to Rs 16,250 crore this year as steel prices are steadily growing unlike last fiscal when they witnessed volatility,” said TK Chand, director - commercial.
During last fiscal, VSP sold 3 million tonne salable steel, which is likely to touch nearly 5.5 million tonne during this fiscal on completion of expansion works. The company is also expanding its marketing network by appointing new dealers and rural distributors, setting up new branches offices and new consignment sales offices, he said.