New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS) A capital expenditure (Capex) of Rs 5,700 crore and Rs 7,500 crore has been approved for SAIL for financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26 respectively, Minister of State for Steel Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The Capex includes expenditure against milestone payments for completed schemes, progress payment for ongoing schemes and SAIL’s portion in capital expenditure in joint ventures, he pointed out.
The minister also said that the steel industry has filed petitions to initiate investigations concerning imports with the designated authority on imports of flat steel products, Cold Rolled Non Oriented (CRNO) and hot rolled coils.
Steel is a de-regulated sector and the government acts as a facilitator by creating a conducive policy environment for the development of the steel sector.
Decisions regarding setting up of steel plants are taken by the industry based on techno-commercial considerations taking into consideration factors such as raw material availability, ease of logistics and access to markets, he explained.
In answer to another question, the minister said SAIL has spent Rs 18.37 crore in the first half of 2024-25 on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects conforming to provisions in Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 and the CSR Rules and its amendments, mainly in the periphery of steel townships and mines.
The thrust areas are the promotion of education and health, women empowerment, sustainable income generation through self-help groups, assistance to divyangjan (people with special abilities), access to water and sanitation facilities, village development, environment sustenance, sports coaching, and promotion of traditional art and culture.
SAIL had also spent Rs 161.93 on CSR projects in 2023-24 which includes Rs 78.26 crore with respect to ongoing CSR projects. The steel giant has undertaken CSR projects in the aspirational districts namely Kanker, Narayanpur, and Rajnandgaon Districts in the state of Chhattisgarh; Bokaro, West Singhbhum and Ranchi Districts in the state of Jharkhand, and Banka District in the state of Bihar in the year 2023-24. In the state of Bihar, SAIL has taken three projects under CSR in the year 2023-24, the minister said.
To evaluate the overall impact of the CSR Programmes/Projects carried out by SAIL in terms of alignment with the needs of society and the CSR policy, the impact assessment survey is undertaken for select projects, he added.
–IANS
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