The modernisation and expansion drive of Steel Authority of India limited (SAIl) crossed yet another landmark as Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) added on stream a new 125 tonnes ladle Furnace of 1 million tonne (MT) per annum capacity installed at a cost of Rs53 crore.
The facility was made operational in the presence of SAIl Chairman, CS Verma on Friday. “SAIl Durgapur has gone one level up in production of higher quantities of value added steel, a further step towards meeting our ultimate objective, which is superior customer experience,” said SAIl Chairman while addressing SAIl collective on this occasion.
Installed in the Steel Melting Shop of DSP, this is the third ladle furnace in the shop, which will not only increase productivity by speeding up supply of liquid steel to the three existing continuous casters, but will also feed the upcoming Bloom-cum-Round caster. SAIl’s Director (Technical), SS Mohanty, Director (Projects & Business Planning), TS Suresh and CEO, DSP PK Singh were also present there.
The new ladle Furnace No. 3 is a part of DSP’s modernization and expansion programme meant to enhance its capacity from the present level of 1.60 MT of saleable steel to 2.12 MT at a total cost of Rs 2875 crores. Post completion, DSP will witness near 100% production through continuous casting route and will also improve the finished
component in its product basket from the present level of 36 percent to 64 percent with addition of a state of the art 1.0 Mtpa capacity Medium Structural Mill.During his visit to the plant, Mr Verma visited the project sites. later, he unveiled an aesthetically designed monument ‘Shram Vir’ representing the spirit, camaraderie and diligence of the SAIl-DSP collective.