50 Manufacturing Companies – Sail

The R&D expenditure of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) between financial year 2015-16 to fiscal 2017-18 stood at Rs 951.93 crore. R&D is an ongoing activity and steel companies in both private and public sectors are conducting research in iron and steel sector. Simultaneously, considering that Indian Railways would require 14 lakh tonne of steel during 2018-19, of which state-run SAIL expects to supply 10 lakh tonne, and 12 lakh tonne in 2018-19. This is for the Indian Railways which is doubling its rail lines, gauge conversion, new lines and track  renewal works. In India, only two steel companies manufacture rails.
Chaudhary says, “I don’t think demand for steel is slowing down. For us, demand has been good and I do not see it slowing down in future. More than the demand, the threat of imports is major concern. Imports in the first nine months of the fiscal is at par with what was shipped in last fiscal. Falling steel prices due to excess production in China is another concern. Some people in India are taking advantage of the situation in China and demand lower price in India. It is not possible because the raw material prices are high here. India should clock a demand growth of over 8% this fiscal.” Traditionally, steel demand goes up during the last four month of the financial year.