SAIL plans to nearly double its rural dealer network

NEW DELHI: Steel Authority of India ( SAIL) plans to nearly double the network of its rural dealers to 1,000 in phases from 562 now, Parliament was informed today.

"SAIL plans to increase the number of rural dealers to 1,000 in a phased manner," Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

With a view to widen the reach of its products, SAIL has been expanding its dealer network extensively. It operates two schemes for dealers - SAIL Dealership Scheme and SAIL Rural Dealership Scheme.

As on April 1, 2013, SAIL had a network of 2,896 dealers which includes 562 in rural areas. It had just 200 dealers as on April, 2006.

The SAIL Rural Dealership Scheme was launched after the state-owned company established dealership in all the 629 districts of the country, sometime in 2008.

It was launched to expand the scope of its business in rural areas with the primary objective of meeting the demands of small rural consumers at block and taluka levels.

"While evaluating applicants for appointment for SAIL Rural Dealer, suitable weightage is given to such applicants who intend to deal exclusively with SAIL products," Verma said.