post news network
Bhubaneswar, Nov 14: Tata Steel has achieved capacity production from the first phase of its Kalinganagar plant, the company announced Tuesday. The plant is now producing steel at the rate of 3 million tonnes per annum from its first phase and will be producing close to double that when the second phase is completed.
“We hope to continue this level of production over the next two quarters,” Rajiv Kumar, vice president (operations) Tata Steel Kalinganagar, said. “Kalinganagar is the only green field steel project in the country that is fully automatic and uses most advanced technology,” he said.
He said the company was working on the second phase expansion and that the company’s board of directors was yet to discuss budget and capacity augmentation. “We have already met major part of the investment in the first phase and substantial part of investment will be seen in second phase,” he said and added that there was a possibility that the capacity may be expanded from 5 million tonnes per annum proposed at present to 8 million tonnes per annum; but the decision is yet to “be concretised”. Capacity expansion will depend on increase in domestic consumption among other things. According to Kumar, the international market for steel was growing at 4 per cent (other than European market) and will help expansion of the Kalinganagar plant.
On procedures and clearances pertaining to project expansion, Kumar said, the company will not be required to sign any fresh MoUs with the state government but will need environmental clearance. A clearer picture, Kumar said, will emerge only after the board meeting.
According to another official, the plant was functioning with zero discharge and recently also planted one lakh saplings to augment the quality of environment in the vicinity of the plant. “We are meeting 45 per cent of captive power requirements from conversion of steam (8MW) and gas released during operations (14MW), among others. Due to kick load, the plant cannot depend on solar power,” the official added.
