ADVERTISEMENT

Jindal Steel Eyes Less Than Rs 10,000-Crore Net Debt By June 2022

JSPL’s board may announce dividend policy next month.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>A worker cycles past signage for Jindal Steel &amp; Power Ltd.’s plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgargh. (Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha/Bloomberg)&nbsp;</p></div>
A worker cycles past signage for Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.’s plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgargh. (Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha/Bloomberg) 

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. will continue paring net debt, and reward shareholders in the ongoing fiscal.

The steelmaker expects to bring down its net debt below Rs 10,000 crore by the first quarter of FY23, Managing Director VR Sharma told BloombergQuint in an interview. JSPL has already cut net debt by half over FY20.

The company is also looking to divest its Australian coking coal unit by September-October of the ongoing financial year as it continues to focus on the domestic market.

Besides, the board of JSPL—which until now has been focusing on deleveraging—will meet within a month to decide on a dividend policy for the ongoing fiscal, Sharma said.

Capacity Expansion

While JSPL will spend Rs 18,000 crore to expand capacity over FY22-27, the company intends to maintain the share of 60% longs and 40% flats, and wouldn’t be increasing its downstream capacity, Sharma said.

It pegged its brownfield capex per tonne at $75-80, higher than the standard of $60.

Besides, Sharma expects the company to sustain its Ebitda per tonne at Rs 20,000-25,000 for the upcoming quarters.

Watch the full interview here: