NEW DELHI: Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) aims to prune its debt over the next two years and is banking on India’s infrastructure drive to power sales.
“We aim to cut our debt from Rs 34,000 crore at the beginning of this financial year by about Rs 5,000 crore in this fiscal and bring it down to Rs 15,000 crore by 2022-23,” JSPL Managing Director VR Sharma told this publication in an interview.
“We are also aiming that our sales turnover would rise to Rs 50,000 crore by then and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rise to Rs 15,000 crore,” he added.
JSPL had a gross revenue of Rs 40,744 crore for the year ended march 2020, and a EBITDA of Rs 7,854 crore and a net loss of Rs 399 crore.
The steel and power major believes that India’s rush to complete infrastructure projects will power future growth and is also driving up steel prices.
“Infrastructure projects initiated by the government is driving growth … steel prices are going up. Demand outstrips supply at present,” he added.
Indian steel spreads have risen by about 25 per cent in Q3FY21 and are at a three-year high,” as per a report by brokerage firm Motilal Oswal. Sharma pointed out that the ‘Atmanirbhar’ policy was also helping drive sales.
“We make heat hardened rails used by metro railway projects. Earlier they were being imported. However, now thanks to Atmanirbhar Bharat, domestic makers of these rails are getting the orders,” the MD said.
JSPL makes 1,080 HH grade rails for several metro projects in India, which includes the Kolkata Metro Rail Project as well as the Pune Metro.