Enough growth opportunities within facilities to take capacity to 40 MT in India: Tata Steel CEO

Tata Steel sees enough growth opportunities within its existing facilities to actualise an expansion plan to achieve 40 million tonne capacity in India by 2030, almost double of its current capability in the country, CEO and Managing Director T V Narendran said. The steel giant will continue to hold talks with the UK government over a financial package for operations there, he said.

The company has planned capital expenditure to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore for India operations, he said.

"In India, basically we want to increase the capacity. We have already around 21 MT. It will be 25 MT soon because the Kalinganagar expansion is going on. We have a few more plans - Neelachal, Kalinganagar and Meramandali or Angul to achieve 40 million tonne capacity by 2030," Narendran told PTI in an interview.

There are multiple ongoing projects at various locations in India and the company has "prioritised completion of the 5 MTPA Kalinganagar expansion", he said.

The company is in the process of expanding its plant capacity in Odisha's Kalinganagar to 8 MT from 3 MT.

"Within nine months of acquisition, we have successfully ramped up (the capacity of) Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd to one million tonne on annualised basis," he said.

The steel company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Steel Long Products Ltd, had completed the acquisition of Odisha-based one million tonne per annum steel mill NINL for a consideration of Rs 12,100 crore in July 2022.

On capacity expansion, he said, "Basically the capex (capital expenditure) which you see is Rs 12,000 crore in India. It will be at that level for the next three years at least."

In reply to a query, he categorically said that the entire growth plan is based on "organic" expansion, and there is no plan for any "inorganic" growth in the near future.

"Within our facilities, we have enough opportunities. We don't need to acquire anything to achieve our growth aspiration," he said.

Speaking on the steel major's UK operations, he said there was "status quo" but the company will continue to pursue talks.

"On UK operations, there is no further development. We had conversations a couple of months back. They had given us an offer which is below or lower than what we had sought. After that, there is no further development. We will continue to have conversations with them," Narendran said.

Tata Steel has sought a financial package of 1.5 billion pounds from the UK government to execute decarbonisation plans at its Port Talbot facility in South Wales under which it will install new plant machinery with low-emission technologies for replacing two blast furnaces, which are nearing the end of life in 12-24 months, and bringing down the carbon footprint.

Asked about the future course on projects there, he said it would depend on the outcomes of the dialogue and the financial support from the UK government.

The steel major owns a 5-MT facility at Port Talbot, which is the UK's largest steelworks employing around 8,000 people.

"Our route and pace of decarbonisation across geographies will be calibrated for each location based on the local regulatory framework, government support and willingness of customers to pay for higher-cost green steel," he said.

Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 35 million tonne.

The group recorded a consolidated turnover of USD 30.3 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2023.

Tata Steel Limited, together with its subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures, is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000.