Steel mills: Outsourcing virtues

New Delhi : A common refrain of all domestic and foreign groups planning to build large steel mills here is that land acquisition remains difficult. The problem got exacerbated with some states opting for a hands off policy on land acquisition for hosting industries, including steel mills. We are, therefore, witness to major portions of 10-12 million tonnes (mt) of new steel capacity being added annually by way of expansion of existing units rather than through new projects.

As Tata Steel will soon have its capacity at Jamshedpur expanded to 10 mt, steel minister Beni Prasad Verma wants Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to give thrust to complete expansion of crude steel capacity to 21.4 mt from 12.84 mt, along with comprehensive modernisation without further cost or time escalation. But, once the Rs 70,000-crore investment programme is completed by March 2013, hopefully there will be further scope for capacity addition of significance at the five integrated SAIL mills.