Alloy steel producer SLR Metaliks on Wednesday said it has invested around Rs 60-70 crore during COVID-19 induced lockdown to increase its manufacturing capacity by over 33 percent to 4 lakh tonne. This capacity enhancement will result in an increase in revenue by 25 percent by FY22, the company said in a statement.

"The company increased its manufacturing capacity from 3 lakh tonne to 4 lakh tonne annually, during the COVID-19 lockdown. We have strategically used the lockdown period to enhance the furnace capacity in a planned way through micro-planning," SLR Metaliks Managing Director Rajkumar Goel said.

The company has invested around Rs 60-70 crore for capacity enhancement, Goel noted.

"The results of this capacity enhancement will start showing (results) in FY2022, where sales will witness an increase of about 25 percent. The recovery path has been slow but not disappointing, as we are expecting a steady recovery in demand from the automobile sector by September 2020," he added.

Along with this, the company has also put in place scrap preheating system, which is installed in the energy-optimised furnace to enhance overall furnace efficiency and also carried out the refurbishment of the caster.

"With increased demands for coils, modifications are being carried out in consultation with the OEM players. Having this in place, the mill capacity can be enhanced to a level of 40 tonnes per hour," the company said.

Goel further said that if things improve by December 2020, there will be an upswing in demand, which will also strengthen the company as we will have the capacity at hand to provide the same.

"With our added capacity, we are also in talks with DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) to supply them for defence needs," he added.

The company, which entered into a joint venture with Fomento Group in 2012, supplies alloy steel to over 40 OEM's (original equipment manufacturers).

Currently, 80 percent of the company's production goes to the automobile sector and the rest is supplied to industries related to agriculture, engineering and tube mill companies.