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Tisco sees no cap on downsizing

India's largest private sector steelmaker Tata Iron and Steel Company Ltd said on Monday that it had set no limit on reducing its work force.

Tisco, India's most cost-efficient steel maker, cut its work force for the year ended March 31, 2001 to 48,821 workers, a reduction of 3,346 employees from the previous year's figure or 6.4 per cent.

The company said it aims to reduce its staff strength to 45,000 by the end of 2001-02.

"There is no ultimate figure for downsizing. It's a running target. We will reduce by another 3,000 jobs this fiscal," Tisco managing director J J Irani told a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Under Irani's nine-year stewardship, Tisco's profits have soared while employee strength has plummeted. In 1998-99, the company's staff strength stood at 59,235 from around 75,000 in the mid-1990s.

Tisco's net profit for full year 2000-01 jumped 31 per cent to Rs 5.53 billion, beating market expectations.

Irani, who retires next month, said that TISCO has applied to the central government to carry out coal mining in several areas but did not elaborate.

Company officials said that the mines Tisco was looking at were in the mineral-rich states of Jharkhand and Bihar.

Later, Irani told reporters that TISCO was not hurt by the sluggish growth in the Indian steel industry.

"We have not seen any difference in our market at present," Irani said.

The steel industry grew by only 0.6 per cent in April 2001, sharply down from the 15.7 per cent growth it posted in the same month last year.

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