Tata Steel has had a rough ride with the global economic downturn. But for the world's sixth largest steel maker, things might be starting to look up.
Corus acquisition never looked attractive for Tata Steel and with a gigantic debt of about $9 billion coupled with almost 50 per cent lower demand in Europe it had become a white elephant, but times are indeed changing.
B Muthuraman, MD of Tata Steel, said, “The expansion of Jamshedpur is on track and Orissa plant equipment worth Rs 6000 crore is already ordered and being delivered.”
However, that doesn't mean that Tata Steel's debt woes are over.
“In Tata Steel's balance sheet the debt is $3.2 billion and Europen debt is 3.7 billion and the net debt is about 9 billion,” Muthuraman said.
But this man is not deterred by the problems and continues to write the growth story of Tata Steel.
Meanwhile, with lower demand coupled with rising debt, it was indeed a matter of concern. But with demand picking up again and Tata Steel looking for 85 per cent capacity utilization, one can expect the worst is behind for the steel sector.