Jamshedpur, April 6: The Indian Steel and Wire Products Limited (ISWP), a subsidiary of Tata Steel, has decided to invest Rs 200 crore to increase the production of wire rods and steel wires in the next three years.

Chief executive officer of ISWP Nimo K. Punwani said the investment would be made to increase the production of steel wires from the existing 60,000 tonnes to two lakh tonnes in this period.

Similarly, they intend to increase the production of wire rods from the existing 1.5 lakh tonnes to three lakh tonnes.

According to Punwani, the board of directors of the company has approved the Rs 200-crore expansion programme that will be carried out in different phases. Once the company achieves the desired production target, it would become a leading wire manufacturer of the country.

Elaborating on the expansion programme, the CEO of the company said efforts were being made to transfer the equipment and machines from Tata Steel?s wire division in Mumbai. Gradually, in the next few months, the Tata Steel?s wire division will be closed. According to Punwani, the Rs 200-crore investment will also include creation of utilities like a large water treatment plant and the upgradation of the power sub-station (owned by Tata Steel) from where ISWP draws electricity for the industry.

Notably, Tata Steel took over ISWP in December 2003 after approval from the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

Prior to 2003, the company remained closed for about five years. The company was referred to BIFR in 1998 after it incurred huge losses.

The wire rod mill division of ISWP recorded the highest-ever production of 1.59 lakh metric tonnes in the year 2005-06, compared to 1.38 lakh metric tonnes in 2004-05. The target projected by BIFR for 2005-06 was 1.45 lakh metric tonnes.

Reports available from the officials said the company recorded the highest monthly production (wire rod) of 17,302 metric tonnes in November 2005, breaking the all-time record of 16,919 metric tonnes in May 2005.