Tata Steel’s 10 mt expansion project gets under way

After having won the bidding for the Anglo-Dutch Corus Plc in early January 2007, Tata Steel ended the year with the groundbreaking ceremony for doubling to 10 MTPA capacity its  Jamshedpur works on 31 December 2007. The ceremony was performed by B Muthuraman, managing director, Tata Steel.

The project is expected to be completed by December 2010.

''In December 2010, when the project will be completed, Jamshedpur will become the single largest unit and one of the most modern plants in the World,'' said Muthuraman. ''With the completion of this project, we will be able to fulfill the promises made to our customers even better."

Raghunath Pandey, president, Tata Workers Union, said, "We have always been with the company in its progress and prosperity. We must ensure the progress of this project takes place in the safest manner."

Established in 1907 as Asia's first integrated private sector steel company, Tata Steel is now the world's sixth largest crude steel producer With the acquisition of Corus Limited, the combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel production capacity of around 28.1 million tonnes with approximately 82,700 employees across the four continents.

Tata Steel says along with the capacity expansion, it will also undertake:

• Augmentation of Mines
  
• Pellet Plant of 6 MTPA
  
• Expansion of Hooghly Metcoke from 1.2 to 1.6 MTPA
  
• Raw material handling facilities
  
• Up gradation of existing A-E furnaces
  
• New LD3 BOF Shop with 2 X 160 t Converters
  
• Two single strand thin slab caster of 1.2 MTPA capacity each with 2.4 MTPA hot rolling facilities
  
• Augmentation of LD2 to 4.0 MTPA
  
• New lime calcining plant
  
• Augmentation of Utilities & Water System
  
• Augmentation of power generation and power system
  
• Logistics and Improvement of town roads

The company is also said to be making steady progress on its three greenfield steel projects in the Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, to add 23 million tonnes to its present capacity. It also plans to set up steel making capacities in Vietnam, Iran and Bangladesh.