Steel Authority of India Ltd has taken up a ₹1,800-crore upgradation and repair programme at Bokaro Steel Plant in Jharkhand.
Anutosh Maitra, Chief Executive Officer of BSP, told BusinessLine that under this programme, the SAIL plant would upgrade its steel melting shop (SMS) and also would get a new sinter plant. A major part of the cold rolling mill would also be revamped.
“All these exercises were being taken up to save cost on energy and improve productivity as well as quality of finished products,” Maitra said.
He explained that the present slowdown in demand has allowed BSP to look for “consolidation in terms of cost, quality and productivity” rather than capacity expansion. BSP’s current capacity utilisation stands at around 80 per cent. Under the plan, the two old units, out of five, in the steel melting shop will see upgradation of processes with provisions for continuous casting and elimination of intermediate process of slab making. The upgradation of SMS units would be taken up one by one, each taking 30 months.
BSP has taken up the new plan even as the ₹6,325-crore first phase modernisation and expansion programme nears completion. Among the remaining part of the first phase is ₹450-crore revamp of a portion of its hot strip mill. It would come into operation this month-end. The first phase will be complete in 2017 when its fifth blast furnace would be ready after modernisation.
The first phase banner programme would take the hot metal capacity production to 5.77 million tonnes from 4.58 million tonnes a year.
Depending on the evolving market scenario, BSP – a dedicated steel items producer for automotive industry – might look into the possibility of construction steel products.
“Slump in domestic demand for flat products (automotive grade steel) may prompt us to go in for long products (construction steel items),” Maitra said.
Maitra said BSP might think of putting up a hot strip or continuous strip mill.