Indian state-run transporter Indian Railways (IR) has estimated its requirement of steel rails during the fiscal year 2019-20 at 1.7 million mt for its track renewal program, Indian steel minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the national parliament on Monday, June 24.
Minister Pradhan said that, of the total steel rail demand of IR, government-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has given assurance for the supply of 1.35 million mt.
SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant located in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has recently installed a Universal Rail Mill (URM) with a capacity of 1.2 million mt per year.
In the fiscal year 2018-19, SAIL’s BSP supplied 968,000 mt of IR’s total demand for 1.4 million mt of steel rails.