Essar Steel opens its fourth service centre; to invest Rs1,000 crore to set up two more

Essar Steel today inaugurated its fourth steel service centre facility in India at Bahadurgarh near New Delhi, raising the combined capacity of Essar Steel's four service centres to 2.5 million tonnes per annum - the country's largest.

The Bahadurgarh facility, set up at a cost of Rs75 crore, has a capacity to process 2.5 lakh tonnes of steel per annum.

''This investment is a part of our strategy to be closer to our customer. It will help the company achieve several goals simultaneously. Service centres are an independent business in western countries. Essar is developing this concept in India,'' said Shashi Ruia, chairman of Essar Group.

In the evolving markets like India the customer service and just-in-time delivery to important segments of the economy play an important role, J Mehra, CEO, Essar Steel Business Group, said, adding ''It is in pursuit of this that we plan to invest over a Rs1,000 crore for setting up of such facilities across the country.''

''This is one of our most modern steel processing facilities that will cater to various user segments in North India, like auto and auto components, white goods and SME. We will also cater to the needs of our Essar Steel hypermart consumers,'' said Vikram Amin, executive director, sales and marketing, Essar Steel.

Essar Steel has over 145 hypermarts and expressmarts across India.

The Bahadurgarh facility is located near the country's largest auto hub. It will include a CR slitting line, CR narrow cut to length line, CR wide cut to length line and HR cut to length line. It will enable Essar Steel to cater to even single sheet customers, with small lots and customised deliveries for ready-to-use steel, the company said.

''The centre will improve our customer centricity and help us meet delivery timelines much better, making us the steelmaker of choice for large and small customers alike. We will increase our reach and simultaneously modify usage experience of our customers by matching performance to expectations. It is a step towards improving the competitiveness of Indian steel users through just-in-time deliveries.'' Amin added.

The service centre is backed by Essar Steel's 4.6 MTPA steel plant at Hazira, which will ensure consistent supplies. Essar Steel has three other service centres – one each in Hazira, Pune and Chennai.
 
Essar Steel Limited, part of Essar Global Limited, is a fully integrated flat carbon steel manufacturer - producing everything from iron ore to ready-to-market products. Essar Steel has a current capacity of 4.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).