Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dedicated SAIl’s modernised and expanded IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) to nation at Burnpur, West Bengal. In his address, the Prime Minister acknowledged the contribution of SAIl in nation building and underlined the importance of the Indian steel industry in country’s industrial and economic development and in the ‘Make in India’ campaign.
Modi said the economy of our country was poised for a take off, and the steel sector should be ready to fulfill the nation’s need for steel for rapid infrastructure development. The modernised and expanded ISP epitomised the spirit of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, he said. The PM also added that the eastern India, too, should develop as fast as western India is developing, and for that development of West Bengal is essential.
The function was attended Governor of West Bengal Keshari Nath Tripathi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Union Minister for Steel & Mines Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State for Steel & Mines Vishnu Deo Sai, Minister of State for Urban Development Shri Babul Supriyo, Secretary (Steel) Rakesh Singh and SAIl Chairman CS Verma.
The modernisation and expansion programme of ISP, implemented with an investment of over Rs16,000 crore would not only triple ISP’s hot metal capacity from 0.85 to 2.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) but would also usher in a new era of green and high quality steelmaking. The plant, which was one of the pioneers of modern steelmaking in the country, has now been completely transformed into a state-of-the-art integrated steel plant in all facets of steel making, right from raw material handling to finishing mills.
Before the function, Prime Minister visited the Blast Furnace ‘Kalyani’, the largest operating blast furnace in the country and showed keen interest in its operations. The furnace built with POSCO’s technology, incorporates several state-of-the-art features which would contribute towards low carbon footprint iron making.
Besides the new Blast Furnace, the new facilities at ISP include a 7 m tall Coke Oven Battery with Coke Dry Cooling Plant, two 210 sq.m. Sinter Plants, three 150 tonne Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) vessels, two continuous billet casters, a beam blank cum bloom caster, a Wire Rod Mill, Bar Mill and a Universal Section Mill.
The new plant at ISP has been constructed on an area of only 950 acres which makes it one of the most compact plants by industry standards. This modernised & expanded plant would produce high quality steel rebars, including earthquake-resistant grades, wire rods and universal sections, including parallel flanged beams, for fulfilling the need of India’s growing infrastructure and construction sector.
Union Minister for Steel & Mines Tomar said the importance of steel industry in realizing the dream of Make in India and the crucial role SAIl will play to reach the goal of creating 300 MTPA steelmaking capacity in the country.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee commended the contributions of SAIl in providing major boost to the Industrial development of the State through the concurrent modernisation of ISP Burnpur and Durgapur Steel Plants. She recalled the key role played by ISP in ushering in industrial revolution in Bengal.