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SAIL to Add Steelmaking Capability at Salem Steel Plant

09/08/2008 - The Steel Authority of India celebrates its program to modernize and expand the Salem Steel Plant into a fully integrated steel plant with the capacity to produce 180,000 tonnes per annum of stainless steel slabs.

The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) recently celebrated its program to modernize and expand the Salem Steel Plant with the laying of the foundation stone for the expansion by India’s Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
 
Salem Steel's Rs.-1902-crore  modernization & expansion program will turn the facility into a fully integrated steel plant, endowing it with the capacity to produce 180,000 tonnes per annum of stainless steel slabs. As a result of the project, in which electric arc furnace based steelmaking facilities featuring ladle furnace and refining operations will be added, the plant will no longer depend on sourcing slabs from external sources. The program will also enhance the facility's annual capacity for cold rolled stainless steel products, from the present 65,000 tonnes to 146,000 tonnes.
 
According to the company, the expansion project will be implemented through 19 major packages and 20 auxiliary packages. The company also said that contracts have been concluded for all the major packages.
 
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister commended SAIL which is observing its 50th year of production, for "playing a vital role in the country's march towards industrialization and self-reliance". He said the modernization & expansion of SSP " which is designed to produce high quality stainless steel", will help make it a truly integrated steel plant. The Prime Minister also reiterated that by 2015 India would emerge as the second-largest steel producer in the world, if steel production was increased to meet the rising steel demand. "Our steel companies have to operate on the frontiers of technology, material excellence and high productivity," he stated, to fulfill this goal.
 
"It is a very, very proud moment for all of us, heralding an important milestone in the turnaround of Salem Steel Plant," said Smt. Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, who had laid the facility’s original foundation stone on September 16, 1970.. "Salem has maintained a sterling reputation in terms of assured quality," she said. She also congratulated SAIL for "its numerous contributions to the Indian economy," while applauding the company's initiatives of appointing marketing outlets in all the districts of the country and setting up Steel Processing Units in 8 states.
 
This is the third foundation stone laid by the Prime Minister for modernization and expansion of SAIL plants. The Rs. 9,600-crore greenfield modernization and expansion program of IISCO Steel Plant at Burnpur in West Bengal was laid on December 24, 2006, followed by the Rs. 11,000-crore modernization and expansion project of Bokaro Steel Plant on April 22, 2008.
 
SAIL is presently implementing its mega modernization and expansion plan to almost double its hot metal production capacity to 26 million tonnes by the next four years. Salem Steel’s expansion & modernization program is expected to be completed in 2010.