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JANUARY 201130
indal Steel & Power Limited, with an annualturnover of over
$2.3 billion (Rs 11,000J crore), is a part of about US $12
billiondiversified O P Jindal Group. It is a leadingplayer in
Steel, Power, Mining, Coal to Liquid,Oil & Gas and
Infrastructure, consistentlytapping new opportunities by
increasingproduction capacity, diversifying investments,and
leveraging its core capabilities to ventureinto new businesses.
JSPL's investmentcommitments in steel, power, oil & gas
andmining have touched more than US $30 billiontoday. JSPL has
expanded its steel, power andmining businesses to various parts
ofthe world particularly in Asia, Africa,South America and
Australia.V R Sharma is CEO & Dy. MD (Steel Business)of Jindal
Steel & Power Ltd. A BE (Mechanical)and MBA (Marketing) from
UK, Sharma hasaround three decades experience in the steelindustry
with various organizations. Some of hismajor stints include Bhushan
Steel and IspatIndustries. Prior to joining JSPL, he was
workingwith Bhushan Power & Steel Limited as JointManaging
Director.At JSPL, Sharma has played a key role inmanaging large
Greenfield projects andexpansions and driving the growth of
theorganizations through mergers andacquisitions, creating large
businessopportunities leading to exponential growth inmarketing and
operations in global scenario.In an exclusive interview to
Balakrishnan Nair,V. R. Sharma lays threadbare his plans for
thecompany. Excerpts:
The demand-supply scenario osteel should bebalanced
How do you find market outlook in India and across theworld for
sponge iron and steel products?- Steel demand in China seems to be
coming near to saturation and isexpected to plateau with only
moderate growth in the next decade. Acrossthe developed world,
growth in steel demand is expected to be flat. India isthe only
large market where the growth is expected to be very high for
the
coming few years with our per capita annual consumption of steel
beingjust 45kg.For the quarter ended June 30, 2010, the company's
net profiafter tax was up by 45 percent while net sales up by 34
percentWhat are the financial targets the company has set for
itself for thenext two years?- In the next two years we target our
PAT to grow by around 15percent year-on-year. We do not expect much
growth in sales at the endof this financial year but our new
facilities would come up in FY 2011-12and we would achieve a high
growth in net sales at the end of FY 2011-12.How does JSPL plan to
increase its retail distributionnetwork/retail chain across India
and overseas so that theproduct is made available to end-users
close to the userpoint?Any plans to set up retail outlets on the
lines of EssarHypermart or ISPAT Chowk?- JSPL is foraying in a big
way into Wire Rod and Rebar productionWire Rod production started
at the start of this financial year and Rebaproduction in Patratu
will start at the end of this financial year. Theseproducts require
the seller to cater to the requirement of a large number ocustomers
and JSPL is geared with the necessary distribution network fothe
same.At the beginning of this financial year, we had 6 stockyards
throughouthe country. As of now, we have 8 stockyards and we plan
to expand to 12stockyards by the end of this financial year.
Further, we also felt a need toset-up channel partners who will
sell on behalf of JSPL. In this regard, weare appointing dealers
and distributors who will be responsible for the saleof light and
medium section beams, angle irons, TMTs and Wire Rods.What are the
prospects of Iron and Steel industry in Asiaand India in
particular?- The growth momentum of China in the last decade, with
speciaemphasis on infrastructure, led to large scale expansion in
steel supply. Asa consequence, China's production capacity reached
to 700 MTPAHowever China's demand for steel has saturated and we
will be in ascenario of over-supply in China. This is a cause of
concern for Indian
V. R. SharmaCEO & Dy. MD (Steel Business)
Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.
