Interest for the quarter has increased to Rs 50.13 crore, against Rs 36.18 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. JVSL is the only Hot Rolled coil (HRC) producer after Tata Steel to have announced a profit in the first quarter. "We would like to achieve what we have promised in terms of achieving the lowest cost of production, " said JVSL director finance Seshagiri Rao MVS.

The variable cost of production of HRC, on an average, has been around Rs 9,500 per tonne and the cost will come down further to Rs 7,500-Rs 8,000 per tonne once the second module is ready and the integration is completed, Rao added.

The two million tonne (mt) pellet plant is expected to be completed by September 2000. This will allow JVSL to procure pellets at a cost of around Rs 500 per tonne. Presently the pellets, which account for 50 per cent of the feed mix, costs Rs 2,000 per tonne, Rao said.

JVSL has produced 2,35,646 mt of HRC, against 1,18,328 mt during the corresponding quarter of the previous year, showing an increase of 99 per cent. This quarter's production is also higher by 33,500 mt over the previous quarter.

There has been an increase of Rs 1,350 per tonnes in sales realisation adding to the cash profit by Rs 32 crore. High levels integrated operation of corex, oxygen steel making, continuous casting and hot strip rolling in conjunction with higher performance of sister companies viz Jindal Tractebel Power Company and Jindal Praxair Oxygen Company resulted in improving the cost of production radically, the company press release said.

As of today, JVSL has one corex module in operation with a rated capacity of 8,00,000 tonnes. JVSL's second corex unit of similar capacity is expected to be in operation by January 2001. "The equipment has been released from the bonded warehouse and the project is being implemented by L&T, the main contractors," a company official said.