JSW Steel to invest Rs 25,115 crore on expansion

It plans to invest Rs 15,000 crore in the Ballari plant

India's largest private-sector steelmaker JSW Steel plans to expand capacities at its existing plants at an investment of Rs 25,115 crore over the next 3 three years.

The company's board, which met on Friday to take on record the fourth-quarter financial results, approved the expansion programme. This includes an investment of Rs 15,000 crore at its plant in Ballari district of Karnataka where it operates a 12 million tonne per annum steel plant. It plans to expand the capacity by 5 MTPA over the next three years, it said in a statement.

Its plant at Vijayanagar in Karnataka is India's largest single-location steel plant and this brownfield expansion will be completed by FY2024. The company will leverage its strong capabilities and track record of implementing brownfield expansions efficiently, the company said.

The proposed expansion programme also includes sustenance and other capex of Rs 6,565 crore. "The board has approved some key projects, which will enable JSW Steel to continue to meet the growth in steel demand in India, in line with the government's national steel policy projections of 300 MTPA capacity requirements by 2030," the company said.

JSW Steel also plans to enhance its mining capabilities and efficiencies at a capex of Rs 3,450 crore at four of its mines acquired in auctions last year. It plans to enhance its own mining infrastructure to reduce reliance on outsourced mining, implement digitalisation, and set up grinding and washing facilities to improve the quality of the ore which will lead to higher productivity at the steel-making operations, it said.

For the fourth quarter ended March 2021, JSW Steel reported a net profit of Rs 4,018 crore on a standalone basis, a growth of 42 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year. It reported a net profit of Rs 2,829 crore in the March quarter of FY2020.

The company’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 24,398 crore, up by 60 per cent YoY led by higher sales volumes (up 10 per cent YoY), higher value-added steel volume (up 37 per cent YoY) and an increase in net sales realisation of (up 39 per cent YoY). The exports were at 21 per cent of the total sales mix in Q4 FY2021 as against 10 per cent in Q3 FY2021, on the back of robust global recovery.

The Board has recommended a dividend of Rs 6.50 per equity share of Rs 1 each for the year ended March 31, 2021, subject to the approval of the members at the ensuing Annual General Meeting. The total outflow on account of equity dividend will be Rs 1,571 crore, vis-a-vis Rs 483 crore paid for FY2020