JSL To Pick Stakes In Stainless Steel Companies. (Financial Express 03.12.99)

Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) will pick up small stakes in companies that will make stainless steel overhead water tanks, LPG cylinders & auto - fuel tanks.

The silvery alloy is mostly used in kitchenware and utensils in the country. The equity in ventures promoted by small entrepreneurs is part of the start-up support the largest producer of stainless steel in the country is providing for product innovations.

The stainless steel industry in India realised the need for building a market a decade ago, when similar efforts were restricted to the developed steel markets of Japan, Germany & Italy. Today clubs, similar to the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA), exist in Spain, Brazil Mexico and many more countries. At home Jindal Strips is a prime force behind the promotional efforts of the ISSDA, which seems logical, considering that the company has a grip over nearly 40% of the market.

The equity and start-up support for new stainless steel businesses is part of the Rs. 1153-crore-turnover-stainless-steel producer's efforts to promote a wider use of the alloy. Jindal Stainless will, for a start, help set up two ventures for producing overhead water tanks made of stainless steel, two ventures for making stainless steel LPG cylinders and support one entrepreneur keen to make stainless steel auto fuel tanks. The support to small entrepreneurs will involve helping them prepare bankable reports, promotional work and brand support.

"We have said you can use our name," said Jindal Stainless director (Corporate & International Marketing) & ISSDA advisor Nirmal Chandra Mathur.

The company has already done some legwork for the new businesses. It has for example, begun selling the concept of Stainless Steel LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders to petroleum companies. Jindal Strips is known to have sounded Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), SPIC and the Shakti group on stainless steel LPG cylinders.

The company, along with a subsidiary, holds Rs 60-crore worth share in JVSL. With the fresh investment of Rs 25 crore, the holding will increase to Rs. 85 crore

Mathur clarified that the company had no plan of manufacturing such stainless steel products on its own. It was simply building a market for itself and the industry. The Jindal Stainless Design Centre has been providing free consultancy to architects & builders keen to use stainless steel in construction work for the same reasons.