Tata Steel to make Vijayawada hub for distributing products

摘要

COME June, Tata Steel will have commissioned in Vijayawada its first advanced stock-point to reach its products in the southern region in a cost-effective way and also to take advantage of the VAT due to be in force from April 1. Spread over more than 20 acres and built at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore, the stock-point, to be known as hub in the company's parlance, will have an annual throughput of 40,000 tonnes by 2007-08. The Vijayawada hub will be the first in a series of four such hubs Tata Steel proposes to launch all over the country as part of its plan to rationalise distribution and transportation of finished products. The other identified locations are New Delhi, Nagpur and either Kolkata or Jamshedpur. Under the hub-and-spoke system, the company will reach its products by rail to these hubs for onward movement by road to different consumers. In other words, the hubs will also act as transhipment points.