SAIL to shell out Rs. 6,000 crore as capital expenditure this fiscal

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), which is the largest integrated iron and steel producer in the country, will shell out Rs. 6,000 crore in the current financial year. The amount will be spent on modernisation and expansion plans, as well as towards research and development (R&D).

The public sector entity had forked out about Rs. 4,483 crore as capital expenditure last year.

The money invested will be utilised towards energy-saving methods, pollution control, development of mines and to enrich product mix, Press Trust of India reports.

"SAIL will spend around Rs. 6,000 crore as capex this financial year. This includes the expansion programme as well as R&D," a source was quoted as saying by the PTI.

The New Delhi-based company is currently in the process of improving its hot metal production capacity from to 23.46 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), which was previously 13.82 MTPA. It also made an investment of Rs. 61,870 crore, which will be completed by the end of the present financial year.

The steel-maker will also spend Rs. 10,200 crore towards mine development in Odisha and Jharkhand.

Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, during a Steel and Mines Ministry meeting, had asked domestic companies to accept the external realities of the steel sector.

"In the long term, industry has to accept external realities and learn to compete and emerge stronger in spite of them (challenges). Time is of essence and all plans and actions by the companies must be well-planned and executed," Tomar was quoted by PTI as telling the companies.

[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]