Vladimir Lisin's Russian NLMK Group will invest up to $ 150 million in two stages by 2022 in Maharashtra, where it wants to establish its first plant to expand its presence in the Indian transformer steel market, the state government said Thursday.
The Maharashtra government will expand all necessary cooperation with a Russian metallurgical company to establish enterprises in the state, said State Prime Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
A Russian company has received a construction site at Aurangabad (Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor) in Shendra or Bidkin, and the government has agreed to transfer this land to them, the report said.
NLMK is expected to increase investment in the state, which will create more job opportunities. Thus, the government will support all possible options for cooperation with the company at all levels, the Chief Minister assured.
Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)
Demand for electricity in India has been growing over the past 30 years. Because of this, the demand for electrical substations has also increased 30 times, the report said.
NMLK produces special types of steel required for electrical wiring and transformers.
NLMK currently holds over 30 percent of the transformer steel market in India.
Group President Grigory Fedorishin said during a conference call following the results of quarterly reports that negotiations are underway with local authorities to raise the project's attractiveness.
Currently, shipments to this country are carried out through the NLMK service center. Mr. Fedorishin estimates the capacity of the transformer steel market in India at 300-350 thousand tons, the volume of NLMK supplies through the service center - 80 thousand tons.
The Board of Directors of NLMK Group, at a meeting on July 25, 2019, recommended to shareholders to approve dividends for the 2nd quarter of 2019 in the amount of RUB 3.68 per share at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be held on September 27, 2019.
Earlier on June 7, 2019, by the decision of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, dividends for the 1st quarter of 2019 were approved in the amount of 7.34 rubles per share. The total amount of dividends for the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2019 will be 11.02 rubles per share.
In March, NLMK's board of directors approved changes to the dividend policy allowing for payment of up to 100 percent of free cash flow.
NLMK Group's second-quarter revenue declined 10 percent year-on-year, with sales volumes declining 3 percent YoY to $ 2.8 billion due to major overhauls of NLMK's blast furnace and converter facilities, as well as lower selling prices. The decline in production was partially offset by higher selling prices and an improved sales mix.
NLMK Group EBITDA in the second quarter decreased by 20 percent year-on-year to $ 735 million.
NLMK Group is a leading international manufacturer of high-quality steel products with a vertically integrated business model. Extraction of raw materials and steel production is concentrated in low-cost regions, and finished products are manufactured in close proximity to major consumers in Russia, North America and the EU.
As of December 31, 2018, the share of Vladimir Lisin's Fletcher Group Holdings Limited in NLMK was 84 percent, the remaining 16 percent of shares are in free float.
