The production of hot metal, crude steel, and saleable steel of 5.037 million tonnes (MT), 4.667 MT, and 4.405 MT, respectively, marked the best-ever first-quarter results, the Ministry of Steel said in a release.

"These figures represent a remarkable growth of 7 per cent, 8 per cent, and 8 per cent respectively in comparison to the previous best."

SAIL also attained its highest-ever sales performance in the first quarter by achieving a sales volume of 3.9 MT, thereby marking a growth of around 24 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

"This record-breaking performance by SAIL has come up in the light of its continued focus on maximizing capacity utilization and meeting the customer demands," the release added.