Guwahati, June 30: Shyam Steel Industries Ltd today forayed into the region’s retail market eyeing a turnover of Rs 500 crore by the end of financial year 2015.
The leading steel maker has catered to key infrastructure projects in the Northeast.
The Rs 1,500-crore Bengal-based steel major, the fourth largest supplier of TMT bars in the private sector after Tata, Sail and Vizag Steel, is on an expansion spree in the Northeast.
“Over the years, we have supplied material to key infrastructure and defence projects in the Northeast. Now, we perceive a growing demand for branded and quality steel among the retail customers here, which is why we have decided to market our products through a network of 100 dealers across the region. We are eyeing a growth of 25 per cent for a turnover of Rs 500 crore from retail trade here in the next two years,” director of Shyam Steel, Lalit Beriwala, told reporters here today.
“A majority of the dealers will be based in Assam, but we plan to leave no market uncovered in the region,” he added.
Shyam Steel has partnered with road projects such as NH 54 (Silchar-Lumding), NH 37 (Guwahati-Nagaon), NH 31 (Guwahati-Bijni), NH 31C (Bijni to Assam-Bengal border), NH 44 in Meghalaya and NH 52B in Arunachal Pradesh.
Besides, it has also catered to PWD projects such as the Games Village in Guwahati, civil secretariat buildings in Itanagar and Imphal, Numaligarh Refinery and engineering colleges in Assam among others.
On the USP of its products, Beriwala said: “We have earthquake and corrosion-resistant TMT (thermo mechanically treated) rebars and structurals which are made under a strict quality control system. The Northeast being a quake-prone zone, we believe safety is at a premium here which is why we think our products, which rank among the best in the industry, will be acceptable.”
The steel company, which started operations from a small factory in 1953, today has three rolling mills in Howrah and an integrated steel plant in Durgapur apart from sponge, ferro and captive power plants.
A premium retail brand in Bengal, it operates through 550 dealers and distributors in the state.
Shyam Steel has no plans to set up a plant in the Northeast though. “As of now, there are no plans to invest in a plant here as it is not viable logistically. In that case, the raw materials have to be supplied to the Northeast from Odisha, which again is not cost-effective,” Beriwala said.
The company exports its TMT re-bars, channels, angles of various sizes and billets to Japan, Ghana, UAE, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh among others.
