New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) said on Wednesday its production in first quarter of FY22 surged 20 per cent year-on-year to 2.01 million tonnes, marking a record first quarter production and second highest quarterly production ever.

In the quarter ended June last year, it had steel production of 0.64 million tonnes.

"The performance in 1Q FY22 gives us confidence of achieving FY22 production target of 8 to 8.5 million tonnes," said the company in a statement.

Conscious decision by the company to divert oxygen towards saving precious human lives led to production getting impacted slightly, it said.

Despite challenging demand conditions in the domestic market as a result of a severe than expected second wave of Covid-19, JSPL sales were resilient at 1.61 million tonnes (plus 3 per cent y-o-y).

Buoyant export markets continued to provide support with exports accounting for 44 per cent of volumes in the month of June 21 and 34 per cent in 1Q FY22.

Exports were however impacted by logistical challenges posed by adverse weather conditions leading to congestion at ports.

JSPL said inventory of 1.5 lakh tonnes currently remains stuck at port which will be shipped as soon as thelogistical bottlenecks are removed.

"We also aim to reduce our overall debt to Rs 9,900 crore by the end of this financial year. We are confident that the India growth story is intact and our economy will continue its growth trajectory," said Managing Director V R Sharma.

JSPL is an industrial powerhouse with a dominant presence in the steel, power, mining andinfrastructure sectors.

Having an investment of USD 12 billion across the globe, the company is continuously scaling its capacity utilisation and efficiencies to capture opportunities for building a self-reliant India. (ANI)

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