Debasish Lahiry joined Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) — then a wholly owned subsidiary of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) — at Burnpur, in 1982. For the next 24 years, he suffered from an acute anxiety of an anticipated loss of livelihood.
It was a time when SAIL was not so keen on running this ailing pre-Independence facility that needed 8,000 people to produce less than half a million tonnes of steel. The state-owned major acquired IISCO in 1972 as part of the nationalisation drive.
But life has changed for better since 2006, when SAIL decided to set up a integrated long-product facility — claimed to be one of the best in its class — on an artificial hillock, created by dumping slag, next to the old plant. It would be run by only 4,400 people, mostly new recruits.
“We will start commissioning in phases, from end September,” N. K. Jha, chief executive officer (CEO) of the facility, told
While most of the mills are either ready or nearing completion, Jha is waiting for the POSCO made blast furnace — the nerve centre of the factory — to be ready by March 2013, to mark full commissioning of the facility. In keeping with IISCO’s troubled legacy of the last 50 years, nothing went smoothly for the expansion project.
Opposition to the land acquisition proposal forced the company to achieve an engineering marvel: Building a 2.5 mt plant on 950 acres — 30 per cent less than the global thumb rule — that too, across three different levels, on a 100-feet-high dump-yard.
“Steel plants are always located on levelled ground. This helps movement of goods and products within the plant,” Jha says. He is adds that the “multi-level ISP design is distinct in the world”.
Phasing out
But the technological achievement came at a cost. The estimated project cost is up by Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 16,440 crore. And, sources say, with the one-year delay in commissioning, the actual cost may be even higher.
According to Jha, most of the historic IISCO facility will be dismantled by end of next fiscal. This should make approximately 600 acres available for any future expansion. Of the 8,000 employees in old plant, 1,500 will be redeployed at the new facility. With another 3,000 to reach superannuation in a year or two, a decision is pending on the remaining extra workforce.
Will SAIL consider archiving the history of iron-making from 1870, going on to describe the form its legacy has taken today? Jha couldn’t say. What one can be sure of, however, is that Lahiry doesn’t have to worry about job security any more.