The economic slowdown has forced Tata Steel set an internal target of ‘postponing expenditure’ worth Rs 500 crore by six months.

Unlike some steel producers in the country, Tata Steel has not yet announced cuts in production. Sources said the steel major was trying to save as much as possible by ‘postponing and rationalising’ expenditure at each and every department.

Tata Steel has already put a check on expenditure related to travels, especially air travel undertaken by its executives. Use of car pool and similar other steps by company officials on tours have been recommended strongly.

The company’s ‘postponment of cost’ drive, as it calls, however, excludes the capital expenditure incurred on its 6 million tonne per annum greenfield project in Kalinganagar (Orissa) and 5 million tonne per annumgreenfield plant in Chhattisgarh, where the land acquisition process is in progress.

The steel major is also going ahead with capital expenditure related to its brownfield expansion here that will take its hot metal capacity to 10.55 mtpa in the next couple of years.

Heeding advice of economists and analysts, who are saying that the slowdown is likely to continue for the next two years, the steel major is trying to preserve as much of liquidity as possible without resorting to either job cuts or reduction in salaries.

Timken India likely to be hit Sources here said that bearings major Timken India, which has one of its manufacturing plants here, could be shut down in the near future if its order book for December 2008 does not improve by the end of the current month.

Though Timken India’s tapered roller bearings (TRB) division, which supplies bearings to railways, is not facing any problem on the order front, its automotive bearings division, which had a somewhat smooth sailing in November, is anticipating dearth of orders in the coming months, starting from December.

“The management is waiting for orders for December to materialise and has not been able to come to a decision yet (on a shutdown),” said a spokesperson from the Timken Workers’ Union. The management was likely to discuss the situation with union representatives by Thursday next week and take a decision thereafter, he added.