Steel major JSW SteelBSE -0.11 % today said it has prepared a blue print to increase overall steel capacity to 40 million tonnes per annum by 2025 in order to retain market share of 13-14 per cent.

The company has installed capacity of 14.3 million tonnes. "In order to retain market share of 13-14 per cent, the company has prepared a blue print to increase overall steel capacity to 40 million tonnes per annum by 2025, which will entail a capital outlay in the range of USD 22 billion over the next decade," JSW Steel Chairman Sajjan Jindal told shareholders at the company's 20th annual general meeting here.

Acknowledging the country's enormous potential for steel consumption, the Government of India has set a target of 300 million tonne capacity by 2025 from the current level of around 105 million tonnes. This would require huge investments to the tune of USD 200 billion within a span of around one decade, he said.

"I believe that India's steel industry is fully equipped to meet this challenge, duly supported by proactive policy reforms and forward-looking initiatives by the Government," Jindal said.

India has several competitive advantages like abundant reserves of iron ore, coal, a growing pool of technical talent and a huge market. It is high time India started leveraging its indigenous resources to emerge as the world's leading exporter of manufactured commodities and products, rather than being an importer, the chairman said.

Despite India being endowed with high quality iron ore resources, we have now resorted to importing iron ore. Additionally, as other nations restrict exports of valuable natural resources, India continues to export iron ore, he said.

Policies addressing these issues will go a long way in protecting and augmenting the capabilities of the Indian steel industry. A transparent process of allocating natural resources through auctions is a necessity and the government must seriously consider and implement such measures, he said.

JSW Steel remain committed to the planned greenfield projects in West Bengal and Jharkhand, committing additional capital to these projects is limited to securing raw material linkages as it is fundamental to achieve financial closure.

"During the FY 14, despite sluggish domestic demand, constrained iron ore availability and higher procurement costs, not only we improved margins from 17.8 to 19.4 per cent but our overall market share too rose to 13.2 per cent," he said.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com