State-Owned SAIL Plans Rs 30,000 Crore Expansion To More Than Double Rourkela Steel Plant Capacity: Report

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), a state-owned PSU, is set to expand the capacity of its Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) to around 9 million tonne per annum with an investment of Rs 30,000 crore, news agency PTI reported.

The expansion aims to strengthen supply to key sectors such as defence, oil and gas, and automobiles.

Once the expansion is completed across 1,200 acres, RSP will account for nearly 25 percent of SAIL’s targeted production capacity of 35 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2030, according to Alok Verma, Director In-Charge, RSP.

Situated in Rourkela, Odisha, about 320 km from Bhubaneswar, RSP holds the distinction of being India’s first public sector steel plant.

Established in the 1950s with German collaboration, the plant initially had a production capacity of 1 million tonnes.

RSP commenced operations on 3 February 1959, when then-President Rajendra Prasad inaugurated lit up it first blast furnace, named Parvati.

Currently, SAIL’s total steelmaking capacity stands at 20.30 MTPA, with RSP contributing 4.4 MTPA to the overall output.

Verma further stated that RSP's production capacity will increase by 5 MTPA, reaching 9.4 MTPA by 2030.

"With the expansion, we aim to garner a sizeable share of the sectors which we cater to," Verma said in an interview with PTI.

He added that RSP produces plates, hot rolled (HR) coils, spiral welded and electric resistance welded pipes, cold rolled non-oriented (CRNO) sheets which find applications in areas like ship building, rail wagons, LPG cylinder, automobiles, oil and gas, motors, generators, and transformers.

Additionally, RSP houses a dedicated mill for producing naval-grade, armour-grade, and quenched & tempered plates for naval and defence applications.

Verma said that about 1,200 acres on the southeastern side of the plant will be required for this mega greenfield expansion, which will be carried out with an investment of around Rs 30,000 crore.

Key facilities planned under this expansion include a raw material handling plant, a coke oven stamp charge battery, a sinter plant, a thin slab caster-direct rolling unit, a cold rolling mill, a silicon mill, and logistics, he added.

The project will also include the establishment of a new blast furnace and a steel melting shop.

To facilitate smooth transport of raw materials and finished products, a railway line linking Dumertra station to RSP is under construction. This will avoid the load on Bondamunda Yard.

A second railway connection, being executed by South Eastern Railways under a cost deposit scheme, is also in progress.

RSP has already deposited the necessary funds with Indian Railways for the project.

Operating under the Ministry of Steel, SAIL ranks among India’s top three steel manufacturers. In addition to RSP, its other integrated steel plants include Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) and Burnpur Steel Plant in West Bengal, Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Chhattisgarh, and Bokaro Steel Plant in Jharkhand.

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