New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and disinvestment-bound Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) registered a big 95.40 percent jump year-on-year in steel exports in FY 2020-21 as the two PSUs exported 3.2728 Million Tonnes (MT) of steel. According to data shared by Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, while SAIL earned Rs 6,089.59 crore from steel exports in FY 2020-21, RINL earned Rs 4,043.50 crore from exports in the same financial year.
SAIL exported 1.96492 MT of steel in FY 2020-21, up from 1.17798 MT in FY 2019-20 and 0.76669 MT in FY 2018-19. On the other hand, RINL exported 1.3079 MT in FY 2020-21, 0.4970 MT in FY 2019-20 and 0.3741 MT in FY 2018-19, data shared by the minister showed.
RINL saw a whopping 182.11 percent rise in revenue from steel exports as it earned Rs 4,043.50 crore in FY 2020-21, up from Rs 1,433.27 crore in FY 2019-20. It had earned Rs 1,233.43 crore from steel exports in FY 2018-19. The prime export destinations were China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE, Philippines, among others.
SAIL, on the other hand, saw a nearly 70 percent rise in revenue from exports over the last two financial years as it exported steel worth Rs 3,586.06 crore in FY 2019-20 and Rs 6,089.59 crore in FY 2020-21. In 2018-19, SAIL's steel exports were valued at Rs 2,835.47 crore.
The data comes weeks after Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Dr Bhagwat Karad informed the Parliament that the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) has decided for disinvestment of its 100 percent stake in RINL and its subsidiaries by way of privatisation. Under the new public sector policy announced by the Centre, it will retain a bare minimum presence in strategic sectors and will disinvest PSUs in non-strategic sectors. Since steel is a non-strategic sector, PSUs in the sector will either be privatised or closed.
Correction: The previous version of this story had mistakenly referred to the increase in steel exports between FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21 as being registered by RINL alone. The increase of 95.40 percent in steel exports year-on-year was for both SAIL and RINL. The total value of steel exports by both SAIL and RINL in FY 2020-21 was Rs 10,133.09 crore. The other figures mentioned in the story have been changed accordingly. PSU Watch regrets the error.
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