Maharashtra Seamless Limited (MSL) is engaged in the manufacture of seamless pipes of various capacities, and caters to industries such as oil exploration, boilers, pipelines, petrochemicals, and others. The company is working towards various developments like full mill capacity utilization by putting up additional finishing lines and allied facilities for testing, optimizing their cold drawing facility, as well as adding value added products. In a recent conversation with Tube & Pipe India, Mr. Shiv Kumar Singhal, President (Commercial), Maharashtra Seamless Limited spoke about the company’s journey, recent or upcoming developments, value added products, MSL’s contribution to “Make in India” through subsea pipelines, cylinder pipe, and others.
Tube & Pipe India: Please give us a brief overview of Maharashtra Seamless, highlighting the company’s major milestones and achievements.
Shiv Kumar Singhal: Maharashtra Seamless Limited (MSL), a D.P. Jindal Group company, synonymous with steel pipes and tubes, is the largest producer of steel pipes and tubes of both seamless and ERW categories in India. For over three decades, MSL has been the pioneer and major contributor to the growth of the Indian pipes and tubes industry. Our product range comprises hot finished seamless pipes, casing, tubing, drill pipes, cold drawn seamless pipes and tubes, ERW pipes (black and galvanized), anticorrosive coating such as 3LPE, 3LPP, FBE etc. A diverse product range, large manufacturing capacities and optimum utilization of resources are the major contributors to the growth of our company. Since its inception in 1988, MSL has achieved many milestones such as IPO launch in 1991, established seamless plant in 1992, received API license, IBR certification by central boiler board (CBB), ISO certification by BVQI, commencement of ERW pipe production up to 20”dia, acquired 7 MW wind power plant, set up higher dia seamless plant and upgraded later up to 20”dia, established coating plant, acquired 2,00,000 TPA seamless plant from Romania, credit rating upgraded to AA+, received allotment of 5 MW solar PV plant in Rajasthan by NTPC VidyutVyapar Nigam under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, merger with USTPL Seamless Mill at Narketpally, Telangana acquired through NCLT, many awards and accolades as No.1 Brand, Most Trusted Brand in India and very recently Gaurav Samman Award received from Government E-MarketPlace as Top Seller (Non-MSEs) in FY:2022-23.
TPI: Could you shed some light on the ongoing or upcoming expansions and developments at Maharashtra Seamless? What according to you are the major USPs contributing to the company’s growth?
SKS: We are continuously focusing on full mill capacity utilization by putting up additional finishing lines and allied facilities for testing, inspection and material handling equipment to remove bottlenecks in the production line in the next three years. This will facilitate an increase in production. In the next three years, we are also going to have a new start for production of premium threading/connections used for drilling in the oil and gas sector. We are also going to enhance our cold drawing facility over and above our existing set up at Nagothane unit by adding an additional facility at our Mangaon unit. The cold drawn capacity would be 1,500 TPM, covering the size range up to 4”. The new set up is expected to be operational by FY 2024-25 onwards. We have invested in establishing an international standard in-house laboratory which is also approved by NABL. We are independently carrying out all kinds of testing in house with full satisfaction of all renowned Third Party Inspection Agency (TPIA).
Relentless pursuit of high quality is our major USP which contributes not only to building our brand but also to the continuous growth story of our company. To provide high quality products and services we always adopt changing technologies to elevate manufacturing process and performance. By incorporating new technologies, we improve operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, inventory levels, profit margin which all are contributing to the company’s growth.
“We are very proud to state that we are the major manufacturer in India who supplies subsea pipelines for the oil and gas sector and saves valuable foreign exchange by substituting imports with domestic products like cylinder pipes, drill pipe substituting imports.”
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TPI: Maharashtra Seamless aims for full-capacity utilization & expanding value-added products. Enlighten us about your recent additions to your product portfolio and production capacities.
SKS: We have successfully added some value added products such as drill pipes, gas cylinder pipes, corrosion resistance subsea pipes, low wall in bigger diameter pipes in our product portfolio during the years 2021-2023 and have been regularly supplying these. These new products have increased mill capacity utilization. We have also expanded our product portfolios and market through acquisition of USTPL at Narketpally, Telangana which has been merged with MSL as of April 1, 2023.
TPI: Maharashtra Seamless has been contributing towards ‘Make in India’ vision through subsea pipelines, cylinder pipes, in its continuous efforts to manufacture import substitution products. Throw light on this statement.
SKS: In India, subsea pipelines used to be 100% imported as no domestic manufacturer was producing these products earlier. For the first time in India under the “Make In India” scheme we could successfully develop subsea pipelines which are import substitutes. Now we have been regularly supplying pipes since the past one year. We are very proud to state that we are the major manufacturer in India who supplies subsea pipelines for the oil and gas sector and saves valuable foreign exchange by substituting imports with domestic production.
TPI: Elaborate on the Indian and international presence, vast clientele and market share of Maharashtra Seamless.
SKS: We are amongst the largest players with a market share of over 55% in India . Our presence is there across all segments domestically and internationally. We have been catering to the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe and Latin America. Our major supplies go to the oil and gas sector mainly through ONGC, OIL, IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, GAIL, MGL, MNGL, IGL, NRL, L&T, Reliance, Hal Offshore, Essar Oil, CAIRN etc. Other than oil and gas sector, we have been catering to many other sector viz boiler, heat exchanger, super heater & condenser, gas and hydraulic cylinder, power plant, water well, water and sewage, infrastructure, mechanical, general engineering and have vast clientele namely Thermax, Thyssen, ISGEC, BHEL, NTPC, NALCO, MSPGCL, Adani, Birla, Megha, TATA, JSPL, JSW and many more.
TPI: Kindly provide your insights on the current scenario, ongoing challenges and upcoming opportunities in the Indian and global tubes & pipes markets.
SKS: The steel pipes and tubes market is steadily growing. In the forthcoming few years the market is expected to expand at an average CAGR of 3.5 to 4%. The market is highly influenced by various factors including global economic conditions and government investment in infrastructure development. As far as challenges are concerned, only trade war is having a detrimental impact on the steel pipes and tubes industry. Strict regulations should be implemented to safeguard respective domestic industries. The demand for high pressure pipes in the oil and gas sector has been steadily increasing. Drilling operations are expanding globally due to shale gas exploration especially in the USA and Canada. Also massive infrastructure developments, rapid industrial growth and urbanization worldwide propel steel pipes and tubes market forward. Alongside India’s increasing energy consumption and exploration activities in oil and gas sector, the government of India’s constant focus on infrastructure development including construction of highways, railways, airports, metros, smart cities and various big project initiatives including Bharatmala Pariyojana, Sagarmala Projects, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are driving the demands of steel pipes. Large scale renewable energy projects worldwide are going to come up in future. Steel pipes and tubes are major components required in construction of wind turbine towers, solar panels and geothermal systems. This transition to clean energy will open up new opportunities for steel pipe manufacturers.
TPI: What are the long term and short term plans for Maharashtra Seamless to propel growth in the future?
SKS: To propel growth in future we have certain short term and long term plans which include expanding our presence in the international market through targeted market survey and partnership with international distributors, strengthening existing domestic and overseas distribution networks and customer relationships by providing timely quality products and services, manufacturing advancements to enhance efficiency and productivity by embracing emerging technology, and investments in R&D to improve quality.
