CAG points to inventory handling lapses at SAIL
Sale of slag at a lower rate resulted in inability to earn revenue of ₹441.40 crore between 2016 and 2023. "Market price of slag was between ₹500 and ₹1,220 per tonne during 2009-14, whereas the rate provided in the agreement was between ₹336.65 and ₹444.24 per tonne," the CAG said in a statement. The slag was provided by Bokaro Steel Plant during this period. Highlighting another anomaly, CAG said SAIL had not fixed any benchmark for inventory carrying cost per tonne of raw material, semi-finished material and finished goods. This is even though on an average, SAIL had an inventory of ₹21,698 crore from 2016-17 to 2022-23, which constitutes about 67% of its current assets.
SAIL also failed to maintain stock levels of raw materials like iron ore, coke and sinter due to which blast furnace was put under off-blast state, resulting in inability to produce 932,000 tonnes of hot metal and earn potential revenue of ₹1,231.52 crore at Rourkela, Bokaro and Durgapur plants, the auditor noted.According to CAG, while all five integrated steel plants of SAIL have implemented SAP-ERP system, it was yet to be implemented in all units or offices of SAIL.
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