Indian state-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of
India Limited (
SAIL) has announced that the new basic oxygen furnace (BOF) converter and the new
plate mill at its Rourkela steel plant have commenced operations.
SAIL stated that, with commencement of
production at this new 150 mt BOF and 1 million mt
plate mill, all the major facilities under the modernization and expansion program at Rourkela steel plant have been operationalized. The annual capacity of the plant has now increased from 2 million mt of
pig iron and 1.9 million mt of
crude steel to 4.5 million mt of
pig iron and 4.3 million mt of
crude steel respectively.
SAIL chairman C.S. Verma said that the company has plans for Rourkela's further expansion to 10.8 million mt per year as part of
SAIL's vision to attain a capacity of 50 million mt of
pig iron by 2025.