Tata SteelBSE 3.16 % is keen on pursuing every opportunity to acquire stressed steel assets that can help it expand capacity in the domestic market, the company’s managing director has said. This comes at a critical time as several debt-ridden steel companies like Essar SteelBSE 0.41 %, Electrosteel SteelsBSE -4.85 %, and Bhushan Steel are undergoing bankruptcy proceedings under the dedicated insolvency court — the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal).
“Such inorganic opportunities come once in a while and we need to pursue them. It is a great opportunity for anyone in the steel industry that has the appetite and ambition to grow in India and steel industry is one of the pioneers in India,” TV Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, said.
“We have announced our plans to raise capacity in India. We see great opportunity to grow in India. We are well positioned because we have organic and inorganic opportunities to grow,” Narendran said. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Tata Literary Meet which opened in the city on Monday.
“Kalinganager has shaped up well. It is in full production and it is the right time to start work on the second phase which has already been approved by the board,” he added. The company is raising ₹12,800 crore through a mega rights issue that will go into creating additional steel capacity of 5 million tonne in Odisha.
Narendran’s comments come close on the heels of Tata Steel announcing a mega bond issue of $1.38 billion last Friday that the company said will help refinance part of its debt in Europe and pave the way for its possible merger of its steel business in Europe with ThyssenKrupp of Germany.
Commenting on the Budget expectations, Narendran said the steel industry and Tata Steel would benefit if the government invests more in infrastructure.
“You cannot build infrastructure without steel. It forms the biggest component of the steel policy. Secondly, better infra reduces cost of production since logistics remains a big issue in India and drags down production cost. We are also seeing demand coming from construction and rural sectors,” he said.
Source: Economic Times