A man stands next to an advertisement of Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) at a street in New Delhi, India, August 5, 2016. To match Interview INDIA-SAIL/ REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Steel Authority of India Ltd will be investing ₹6,500 crore towards capex during the current financial year as part of its ₹1 lakh crore investment plan over the next few years, SAIL CMD Amarendu Prakash said on July 5.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme organised by Indian Steel Association here, Prakash said the steel industry approached the government seeking measures to control the dumping of cheap metal by China into India and hoped that steps will be taken to address the menace.

“This year, the capex target is ₹6,500 crore. We also have regular capex on maintaining our facilities, as well as debottlenecking exercises. Most of the capex expansion (₹1 lakh crore by 2030) will start flowing from FY26.

In the first phase from (the capacity) 20 million tonnes, we go to 35 million tons tonnes per annum by 2031. In the next phase, we will make it 50 million tonnes,” the SAIL CMD told reporters.

In the past, SAIL management had informed investors about a planned ₹1 lakh crore investment across its plants for greenfield and brownfield expansions over the next 3-4 years, while aiming to maintain a debt-equity ratio of 1:1.

On the steel outlook, he said the world is growing at 0.5% while India grew at 13% last year and will continue to grow at 8% CAGR in the next 10 years.

On import of cheap steel from China, he said around the world countries have taken different steps such as increasing import tax and India is also expected to take calibrated steps.

“There are various ways in which trade measures are handled. So it is not just one single figure in percentage. We need to see the quality of steel which is coming to India, the prices at which the steel is coming to India,” the official said.

According to reports, last year India extended the imposition of an anti-dumping duty on certain Chinese steel for another five years.