SAIL scores low on employee output ratio

Staff strength was 88,000 on April 1, 2016; by March 31, 2017, expected to be 83,000

Efficiency as measured in output per employee at government-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is well behind private sector peers JSW Steel and Tata Steel.

In 2015-16, its crude steel production capacity was 14.279 million tonnes (mt). With 88,655 employees, this meant one employee for every 161 tonnes. JSW had 11,904 employees and produced 12.56 mt; the per-employee output was 1,055 tonnes. At Tata Steel, this metric was 268 tonnes.

Wage cost is 21 per cent of SAIL’s total cost. SAIL has trimmed its workforce by 1,000-1,500 employees annually; it announced a VRS in 2016. Its staff strength would be