Bokaro to Replace Bhilai as SAIL's Top Steel Producing Unit

New Delhi: Replacing Bhilai, the Bokaro unit will become the largest steel plant of SAIL as the state-run firm completes its next phase of expansion programme with Rs 1.5 lakh crore investment by 2025.

As per "Vision 2025" programme of the country's largest steel producer, Bokaro unit will have the highest 14.1 million tonnes per annum hot metal production capacity among its five integrated steel plants.

SAIL's ongoing Rs 72,000 crore expansion programme is set to be over by middle of next year with the lighting up of the blast furnace in Bhilai that will take the unit's capacity to 7.5 mtpa.

Bokaro's capacity is being raised to 5.8 mtpa in current phase. SAIL's overall capacity will go up to 23.2 mtpa after the completion of the ongoing phase of expansion.

The next phase of expansion programme, which has already been initiated, will see Bhilai's capacity reaching up to 10.5 mtpa by 2025 and will become the third-largest unit of SAIL after Bokaro and Rourkela, which will have 10.8 mtpa capacity.

Capacity of the Durgapur unit will go up to 9.3 mtpa and IISCO at 5.7 mtpa.

SAIL plans to fund the next phase of capacity expansion programme through a combination of debt and equity in 1:1 ratio.

The company had Rs 25,400 crore outstanding borrowings as on September-end this year. This was Rs 25,281 crore as on March-end.

"SAIL's requirement for funds for next phase of capacity enhancement programme through modernisation and expansions of the existing plants till 2025 will be funded through a mix of equity and debt. The equity portion will come from internal accruals," a senior company official said.