Jindal Steel & Power Completes Delivery Of 97,400 Tonnes Of Steel Rails To Indian Railways 4 Months Ahead Of Schedule   

Indian steel and energy major Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) on Tuesday (Apr 23) said it has completed delivery of its 1 lakh tonne first-ever rail order, which the firm had bagged from the Indian Railways. Financial Express reported.

In July 2018, JSPL bagged 20 per cent of the Rs 2,500 crore global tender by the Indian Railways to supply long rails.

JSPL was to supply 97,400 tonnes of rails to the national transporter over a period of one year.

JSPL started dispatching the first consignments of rails on 15 August, 2018 from its Raigarh plant and completed delivery of total quantities on 22 April, 2019, almost 4 months ahead of schedule.

Indian Railways had invited the global tender for procuring around 4.87 lakh Metric Tonnes of rails to meet the shortfall of supply from the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

At the start of financial year 2018-19, SAIL had assured to supply 15 lakh tonne of rail to the transporter which was later revised to 12 lakh tonne. However, it is unlikely to be able to meet even the revised target as it is supplying only 70,000 tonne of rail every month, which translates to around 8.4 lakh tonne for the year. For 2017-18, SAIL had committed to supply 11.45 lakh tonne rails, but fell short by 3.14 lakh tonne.

Even after both the units of SAIL getting operational in Bhillai, the company has not been able to increase production.

“It is indeed a historic moment and a matter of great pride for JSPL. We are proud to have contributed to government’s Make-In-India initiatives and complete such a challenging project far ahead of schedule,” said Naushad Akhter Ansari, Joint MD of JSPL.

“These achievements are testament to the capability of our team as well as our valued partnership with the Indian Railways. We are extremely proud to be partnering with Indian Railways in boosting the rail infrastructure development in the country. We continue to stay committed to developing India’s infrastructure needs and contribute in Nation Building.” Ansari added.

The company also announced that it has recently bagged an additional order of 30,000 tonne long rails from the Railway Ministry. This additional order comes on top of 97,400 tonne order the company had won under the global rail tender.

Part of the USD 18-billion OP Jindal Group, JSPL is the only private sector manufacturer of rails and also the only manufacturer of head hardened rail in the country. The company operates a 1 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA) rail mill at its steel plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.

The company has already supplied rails to Iran and Bangladesh and to the Dedicated Freight Corridor of India. The company has capabilities to manufacture single piece rails of up to 121 mtr length which can be extended up to 260 mtr (with two welds).