The Hindu Business Line : Tata Steel aims at 15 mt by 2010 — In talks for more overseas acquisitions

TATA Steel is working on overseas acquisitions and domestic capacity addition that would make it into a 15-million-tonne steel producing company by 2010.

Apart from the 5 mt capacity at Jamshedpur, Tata Steel has recently added another 2 mt through its acquisition of the Singapore-based NatSteel.

The expansion plans would entail investments in the region of Rs 25,000 crore that is to be raised through internal accruals and borrowings, the Managing Director, Mr B. Muthuraman, said.

"We are looking at acquisitions in South-East Asia and China. We are already having discussions with companies," Mr Muthuraman said at a press briefing here today.

He said that in the domestic market, the company is going in for a 2-mt expansion at Jamshedpur that would raise the total capacity at the plant to 7 mt by 2008.

In Orissa, the company plans to set up a 6-mt facility by 2010. "The first phase of 3-mt production capacity is expected to be completed by 2007," Mr Muthuraman said.

In Chhattisgarh, the company plans to set up a 2 mt plant by 2010. "We hope to become a 15-mt company by 2010," he said. On the emerging competition in the domestic market with Korean giant Posco and steel tycoon Mr L.N. Mittal proposing foray, he said, "Competition is welcome. It is a good thing for the customer."

He hinted that Tata Steel's moves for capacity addition is largely to take on the emerging threat. "Nobody is going to stay standstill. We are putting up new capacities. This year we would add another 80,000-tonne capacity." On the contentious issue of iron ore exports, Mr Muthuraman said he was not in favour of exporting the non-renewable raw materials required by the steel industry. "My view is that we should not export iron ore but finished products. It can even be cars." According to Mr Muthuraman, Tata Steel has been ranked as the world's number one steel company this year by World Steel Dynamics, which undertakes a global assessment of steel companies annually.

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