SAIL cuts debt by Rs 3,000 crore

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has repaid over Rs 3,000 crore of debt to different financial institutions during April-December 2003. With this, the overall debt which stood at Rs 15,082 crore in 1999-00 had fallen to less than Rs 10,000 crore.

In 2003, its debt-equity ratio fell below 3:1. The improvement in debt position follows the swapping of high-cost loans with lower interest debt, resulting in a saving of about Rs 300 crore during April-December 2003, according to a press statement issued by the company here today.

The debt recast comes after the PSU turned around, booking a record profit of Rs 760 crore in the first half of 2003-04.

SAIL's production of finished steel went up 7 per cent to 8.4 million tonnes during January-December 2003 over the same period in the previous year. In the long product category, the production of rails rose to 816,000 tonnes, growing by 11 per cent.