SAIL’s December quarter net profit zoomed 398.7 per cent to Rs 1,283 crore in the December quarter mainly on account of higher income.

The state-owned steel maker had a net loss of Rs 430 crore during the same quarter a year ago.

During the October-December period, the company’s total income jumped to Rs 19,614 crore from Rs 16,405 crore in the year-ago period.

Total expenses stood at Rs 16,406.81 crore compared with Rs 17,312.64 crore a year ago.

For the nine months ended December, the net profit of SAIL increased 157.7 per cent to Rs 406 crore.

During the quarter, SAIL has produced 4.37 million tonnes (mt) crude steel, registering a growth of 9 per cent over the corresponding period last year. It produced 4.15mt of saleable steel, a rise of 6 per cent.

Soma Mondal, chairman of SAIL, said: “The worst is behind us. SAIL has shown overall improvement during the current financial year despite all the challenges. With the focus on seizing opportunities, the company has geared up to service the rising steel demand in the market as soon as the lockdown was lifted.

“It has always been SAIL’s strategy to operate in sync with the market situation. As we look ahead, we are confident of improving the performance further in the remaining period of the financial year.”

SAIL is the country’s largest steel maker having an installed capacity of about 21 million tonnes per annum.