New Delhi: Tata Steel has received full insurance cover for its pension liabilities in the UK and is on pace to meet its goal of having 40 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of production capacity by 2030 in India.
The steel giant now has a capacity of around 21.6 MTPA in India, and the company expects benefits of Rs 2,000 crore from merging its subsidiaries with itself.
“On the growth front, the company continues to scale up its business in India by way of both organic capital expansion and inorganic acquisitions and is steadfast in its objective of achieving its 2030 target of an overall 40 MTPA capacity,” N Chandrasekaran, Tata Steel Chairman told shareholders at the company’s AGM.
Tata Steel is increasing capacity at Neelachal Ispat Nigam (NINL) in an effort to take the lead in the long products segment. Additionally, it would raise the Kalinganagar plant’s capacity from 5 MTPA to 8 MTPA.
The company had inked a contract with the Punjab government to set up a 750,000-tonne-a-year electric arc furnace (EAF). “Within two years, the plant is expected to be operational.”
Regarding Tata Steel’s plans to amalgamate its seven subsidiaries and one associate business, Chandrasekaran said ‘plans were at different stages of regulatory approval, and the company will strive to complete it in this fiscal itself. Following the amalgamation, it expects benefits of Rs 2,000 crore’, he added.
The company had earlier received board approvals to merge Tata Steel Long Products, Angul Energy, The Tinplate Company of India, TRF, Tata Metaliks, Indian Steel & Wire Products, Tata Steel Mining and S&T Mining Company with itself.
“The future holds many opportunities for Tata Steel, and the company is well-positioned to capitalise on them,” he said, adding Tata Steel Nederland and Tata Steel UK will also expand steel deliveries, improving yield performance and reducing operating costs.
“The R&D spend between India and Europe stands at Rs 1,000 crore,” he added.
On the company’s British Steel Pension Scheme, he said Tata Steel had secured full insurance cover for the pension liabilities at no cash cost to the company and eliminated any future risks from asset-liability mismatches. “This means that the insurer guarantees the cash flows for future pension payouts to pensioners,” he added.
