SAIL’s Chairman Amarendu Prakash said on Saturday the company is bullish on the demand for rails in the country and has decided to set up a new rail mill at an investment of $800 million.
SAIL has decided to go ahead with the investment plan despite not having any order indication from its largest buyer Indian Railways, Prakash said at a panel discussion at the Global Business Summit (GBS) in the national capital.
The chairman said such kind of confidence is a result of growth-oriented policies of the government.
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“Last week, we decided to put up an $800-million investment into a mill, because I am confident that railways will go nowhere and they will have to buy from me if I put up a mill. So, I have taken a decision like that. So, that is the kind of confidence that comes when the policies we know are growth oriented, and they are bound to continue,” he said.
Prakash said SAIL had been following up with the railways for the past seven years for their future demand so accordingly the steel maker can plan rail production.
“I think, last seven years, we have been running after Indian railways, saying, how much rail track will you buy from us? Should we put up a new mill? Should I make an investment into a new mill? We can produce good railways. Will you buy it? They said, I am not going to give you any comfort about what I will buy in the future,” the Chairman said.
SAIL, under the Ministry of Steel, makes rails at its Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh and forged wheels at Durgapur Steel Plant in West Bengal.