K R Steelunion will kickoff its three-phased capacity expansion programme from April. The revival plan, estimated at Rs 7 crore, will be implemented within four years from the date the package is finalised.
According to Vinaykumar, K R's managing director, the company has the right in-house technology to implement the expansion plan. K R Steelunion has technical collaborations with the US-based Calumet Steel Inc and Steelworks Inc for manufacturing construction bars.
In the highly competitive steel market, K R brands like Congrip, Highgrip Deformed Bars and High Tensile Deformed Bars, have carved out a sizeable market, particularly in the household sector.
Vinaykumar is upbeat about the company's prospects despite several setbacks. The company was hit hard by natural calamities in the west coast, particularly the 1989 cyclone and the 1991 flood, that resulted in the collapse of its profit-earning unit at Kalwa near Thane in Maharashtra.
In 1992, the company was forced to close both its Kalwa unit and the Gujarat factory located at the Kandla Free Trade Zone. It concentrated all activities in West Bengal, around its oldest unit at Kalyani. In 1998, steps were taken to shift K R's registered office from Mumbai to Calcutta. The move awaits settlement of bank accounts in Mumbai. The Kalwa unit had a capacity of 1.5 lakh tonne per annum (tpa) of tinplates, while the installed capacity of the Gujarat unit was 1 lakh tpa of thin gauze cold-rolled steel.
The Kalyani unit has an electric arc furnace with an installed capacity of 36,000 tpa, currently out of operation. The rolling mill turns out 65,000 tpa at present against its installed capacity of 75,000 tpa. Conversion work for other companies, occupying 40 per cent of the total working period of the Kalyani unit, will continue giving K R Steelunion enough cushion.
Under the expansion programme, Vinaykumar plans to hike the production of construction bars by 50 per cent from the current level of 65,000 tpa. This will be taken up in three phases involving altogether Rs 7 crore.
Further, as part of the revival package, which is almost certain to be approved by the Board for Industrial and Financial Rec
