JSW Steel, India's most-valued steel company, strategies to spend Rs 47,457 crore towards capital expenditure in the next three years, mainly for adding 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel making capacity at Vijayanagar, Karnataka, and building mining infrastructure in Odisha.
The new projects would cost the firm Rs 25,115 crore, while the ongoing investments, including doubling of capacity at Dolvi in Maharashtra to 10 MTPA, would need Rs 22,342 crore.
Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director and group chief financial officer, JSW Steel said Dolvi expansion would be finalized by July and the plant would be fully integrated by September. The coke oven plant began production in February, while pellet plant was commissioned in March. The hot strip mill also began rolling from March.
The completion of blast furnace and steel melting shop have been delayed because of COVID-19 disruptions. JSW Steel aims to enlarge its capacity to 38 MTPA by 2024 from the present 23 MTPA (including the recently acquired Monnet Ispat and Bhushan Power and Steel). Tata steel, the other key steelmaker in India, has 20.2 MTPA native capacity, including 5.2 MTPA of Tata Steel BSL (formerly Bhushan Steel). It is also growing its capacity in Kalinganagar to 8 MTPA from 3 MTPA.
Steelmakers are aggressively mounting production because of projected shortage from 2024, in line with the rising demand. The Indian government's national steel policy projects a requirement of 300 MTPA steel by 2030.
JSW Steel strategies to expand its capacity by 5 MTPA at Vijayanagar plant to 17 MTPA at a capex of Rs 15,000 crore. In Odisha, the steel firm has four operstinal iron ore mine in leases. The company would spend Rs 3,450 crore towards mining infrastructure.
JSW Steel posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 7,873 crore in 2020-21, compared to Rs 3,919 crore a year ago. High prices of steel and the increasing request for value added and special products helped the firm in boosting the bottom line, Rao said. The operational revenue was Rs 79,839 crore, higher from Rs 73,326 crore a year ago.
The firm has a net debt of Rs 52,615 crore, post Rs 19,350-crore acquisition of the bankrupt Bhushan Power in March. The net debt to equity of the firm stood at 1.14 times, while net debt to EBITDA was at 2.61 times.
