Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is the leading steel-making company in India. The company is a fully integrated iron and steel maker, producing both basic and special steels for domestic construction, engineering, power, railway, automotive and defence industries and for sale in export markets. They are also among the seven Maharatnas of the country's Central Public Sector Enterprises.
The company manufactures and sells a broad range of steel products, including hot and cold rolled sheets and coils, galvanised sheets, electrical sheets, structurals, railway products, plates, bars and rods, stainless steel and other alloy steels. They produce iron and steel at five integrated plants and three special steel plants, located principally in the eastern and central regions of India and situated close to domestic sources of raw materials, including the company's iron ore, limestone and dolomite mines.
The company's wide range of long and flat steel products are much in demand in the domestic as well as the international market. The company's International Trade Division ( ITD), in New Delhi- an ISO 9001:2000 accredited unit of CMO, undertakes exports of Mild Steel products and Pig Iron from SAIL's five integrated steel plants. With technical and managerial expertise and know-how in steel making gained over four decades, the company's Consultancy Division (SAILCON) at New Delhi offers services and consultancy to clients world-wide.
The company has a well-equipped Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel (RDCIS) at Ranchi which helps to produce quality steel and develop new technologies for the steel industry. Besides, they have their own in-house Centre for Engineering and Technology (CET), Management Training Institute (MTI) and Safety Organisation at Ranchi.
The Government of India owns about 75% of the company's equity and retains voting control of the company. However, SAIL, by virtue of their 'Maharatna' status, enjoys significant operational and financial autonomy.
Steel Authority of India Ltd was incorporated on January 24, 1973. The Ministry of Steel and Mines drafted a policy statement to evolve a new model for managing industry. The policy statement was presented to the Parliament on December 2, 1972. On this basis the concept of creating a holding company to manage inputs and outputs under one umbrella was mooted. This led to the formation of Steel Authority of India Ltd. The company was made responsible for managing five integrated steel plants at Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur, Rourkela and Burnpur, the Alloy Steel Plant and the Salem Steel Plant.
In the year 1974, SAIL International Ltd was incorporated to coordinate the export and import business. In the year 1976, Durgapur Mishra Ispat Ltd, Bhiali Ispat Ltd, and Rourkela Ispat Ltd were formed as fully owned subsidiaries of the company for taking over the running business of Alloy Steels Plants, Bhilai steel Plant and Rourkela Steel Plant. In the year 1978, the company was restructured as an operating company. In the year 1982, the Salem Steel Plant was inaugurated at Salem in Tamil Nadu. The number of technological improvement schemes was undertaken during the year 1985, the most notable thing was the conversion of open-hearth furnace No.10 into twin hearth furnace. A year after, in 1986, all the Phase-I units under the plants' 4 million tonnes expansion programme were commissioned. A vacuum arc-degassing unit was started in the converter shop and a second normalizing furnace in plate mill was added.
In the year 1988, Visvesvaraya Irons & Steel Co Ltd became a subsidiary of the company by acquisition of 60% of the shares. Also, Bhilai Steel Plant set up a blast furnace bell-less top charging system. In the year 1990, the company made a modernisation programme to revamp and technologically upgrade the plant. After the modernisation the plant slated for a crude steel capacity of 1.9 million TPA.
In the year 1992, the company's R&D unit at Ranchi was set up with a view to promote continuous improvement in critical performance indices of the steel plant in order to increase productivity, reduce production cost and improve quality by production optimization or by introduction of new technologies. In the year 1993, the company launched the consultancy division with a view to harness the resources and expertise in steel related areas and market engineering, technical, managerial and training services.
In the year 1994, two major schemes, namely. new sinter plant III and expansion of oxygen plant II were taken up for implementation. Also, C.O. Battery No. 10 was commissioned during the year. At Rourkela steel plant, five of phase II modernisation packages viz. power distribution, mobile equipment for RMHS, II sizing plant at Satara and Tarkera intake facilities and make-up water pump houses for Tarkera works were commissioned. In the year 1995, the company ventured into setting up a power project at Bhilai by the form joint venture with Larsen & Toubro and CEA, USA Inc. In the year 1997, the modernisation of rail & structural mill (stage 1-phase) was commissioned.
In the year 1999, the company made a marketing tie up with Tyazprom export (TPE) of Russia to sell the entire range of castings and pig iron produced by Kulti Works, a division of Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO). In the year 2000, the company signed a MoU with Egypt's public sector Metallurgical Industries Corporation (Micor) for the establishment of a modern technical and management training centre for the Egyptian steel industry. They launched a new millennium special media campaign to hard sell its wide range of products. The Durgapur Steel Plant of the company commissioned the computerised integrated production planning and control (PPC) system that helps in practically every aspect of plant operation and dispatch. The company, Tata Steel and Kalyani Steels Ltd entered into an agreement for creation of an Internet-based global, independent B2B Steel Market place.
During the year 2002-03, the company implemented major projects which includes up gradation of BF-3 with increase in useful volume and installation of INBA Cast House Slag Granulation Plant at BF-3 at DSP, installation of De-scaling Unit before 950 mm Roughing Stand of Rail & Structural Mill of BSP and installation of Combined Blowing Technology in Converter No. 2 at SMS-II of BSL. During the year 2004-05, the company entered into an agreement with GAIL for supply of natural gas for its integrated steel plants. They signed an MoU with KIOCL for joint development of some iron ore mines of the company. They received the prestigious SCOPE Gold Trophy for Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to the Public Sector Management-Institutional category for the year 2004-05. The company bagged, 'Business world-FICCI-SEDF Corporate Social Responsibility Award - 2006'.
During the year 2006-07, the company undertook a massive modernization and expansion plan with an indicative cost of over Rs. 40,000 crore to expand capacity of hot metal to over 25 million tonnes from current level of 14.6 million tonnes. They introduced several new products in the domestic market, namely HCR-EQR TMT for earthquake resistant construction, rock bolt TMT for tunnel construction, EN series HR coils for LPG cylinders, MC 12 HR coils for chains etc. In addition, Bhilai Steel Plant developed high strength vanadium rails; Durgapur Steel Plant produced S-profile loco wheels for high-speed locos and Rourkela Steel Plant rolled special plates, which were used, in the indigenously built rocket PSLV C-7. During the year 2007-08, the company in association with Tata Steel Ltd formed a joint venture company to mine coal blocks for securing assured coking coal supply to meet their increasing production needs.
During the year 2008-09, the company incorporated new joint venture companies namely 'SAIL & MOIL Ferro Alloys Pvt Ltd.' and 'S&T Mining Co Pvt Ltd'. They signed a Joint Venture Agreement signed with Govt. of Kerala (GoK) to acquire equity stake in Steel Complex Ltd (SCL), Kozhikode, a Govt. of Kerala Undertaking. Also, they singed an MoU with Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) for proposal for incorporation of a joint venture company for carrying out transportation of imported coking coal & dry bulk shipping trade.
During the year, the company signed an MoU with Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) for setting up captive / independent power plants(s) under joint venture using super-critical technology alongwith opportunities to own captive thermal coal blocks. They entered into an MoU with M/s. Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Ltd. (RSMML) - A Govt. of Rajasthan Undertaking, to ensure supply of Low Silica Limestone for a period of 10 years. Also, they entered into an MoU with Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), Bangalore - a Ministry of Defence Undertaking for a period of 3 years, for supply of Heavy Earth Moving Equipment.
During the year 2009-10, the company added two warehouses and two customer contact offices to their distribution network. With this, the company's marketing network has expanded to 37 branch sales offices (BSOs), 26 customer contact offices (CCOs) and 67 Warehouses. The company also expanded their dealer network by appointing 700 dealers during the year.
In July 28, 2009, Bharat Refractories Ltd was amalgamated with the company with effect from April 1, 2007. After amalgamation, erstwhile BRL, became a unit of SAIL and renamed as SAIL Refractory Unit (SRU). Also, the company acquired the assets of Malvika Steel Limited at Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh during the year. In August 2010, the company started hot trials at Salem Steel Plant (SSP) after expansion. In May 19, 2010, the Government of India accorded the status of 'Maharatna' to the company.
During the year 2010-11, all major facilities under expansion plan of Salem Steel Plant completed on schedule in September 2010 and are under stabilisation for regular production. In July 2010, Blast Furnace unit 2 at Bokaro Steel Plant was upgraded & commissioned. They completed upgradation of Plate Mill at Bhilai Steel Plant, installation of 700 tonne per day Oxygen Plant & simultaneous blowing of converters in SMS-II at Rourkela Steel Plant, and rebuilding of Coke Oven Battery#10 at IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur.
During the year, Maharashtra Elecktosmelt Ltd (MEL) was amalgamated with the company with effect from April 1, 2010, MEL became a unit of the company and it was renamed as Chandrapur Ferro Alloy Plant. In June 2010, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved transfer of Salem Refractory Unit of Burn Standard Company Ltd to the company.
In December 2010, the company signed an MoU with RITES and incorporated an joint venture company, SAIL RITES Bengal Wagon Industry Pvt Ltd for undertaking a feasibility study for setting up the Wagon Manufacturing Factory. The work on the newly incorporated joint venture company between SAIL and RITES has already commenced. In February 13, 2011, the company formally acquired 50% of the shares held by the Government of Kerala (GoK) in Steel Complex Limited (SCL), Kozhikode and taken over the operations of SCL.
In 2012, With an aim to provide impetus to its massive modernisation programme, the company which is a fully integrated iron and steel maker, producing both basic and special steels for domestic and for sale in export markets has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Swiss based company ABB which deals in robotics and automation technologies for the purpose of offering technical training to more than 4,000 of its employees during a period of 24 months. The company also signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Burn Standard Company Limited (BSCL) at Kolkata for setting up a Wagon Components Manufacturing Facility at the premises of BSCL at Jellingham, Purba Medinipore district, in West Bengal, with a capacity to produce 10,000 bogies and 10,000 couplers per annum. The company was also conferred with ,MoU Excellence Award? for the year 2010-11 for the 9th consecutive year.
In 2013, the company won PSE Excellence Award-2013 for CSR & Sustainability and SAIL Bhilai Steel Plant bags the National Energy Conservation Award 2013.
In 2014, ICVL acquires Rio Tinto's 2.6 Billion Tonnes coal resource in Mozambique. SAIL awarded Good Corporate Citizen Award 2014 by PHD Chamber. The company's Bhilai Steel Plant wins National Energy Conservation Award 2014. A New Sinter Plant and Coke Oven Battery at Bhilai was inaugurated during the year.
In 2015, the company has completed the current phase of the modernisation and expansion of the Bokaro Steel Plant with an investment of Rs 6,325 crore. The company also signed MOU with M/s. ArcelorMittal for Auto Body Steel Production. The company also has set up a steel processing unit at Billowa in Madhya Pradesh under partnership between SAIL and Prime Gold Pvt Ltd. The company has won an export contract to supply rails for modernisation and major expansion of railway network in Iran. SAIL's Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), also has set up power generation unit during the year under review.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on 7 November 2016 between POSCO and Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) on technical collaboration for operational improvements and Human Resource Development.
On 23 January 2017, Union Steel Minister Birender Singh inaugurated the new Universal Rail Mill at Steel Authority of India Ltd.'s (SAIL) Bhilai Steel Plant and flagged off the first rake from the new mill. With this, SAIL has begun the commercial production of world's longest single rail of 130 meters from the new Universal Rail Mill (URM).
Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) recorded the best ever sales performance for any given year during FY 17 (Apr-Mar'17) with a growth of 8% over corresponding period last year (CPLY). The total sales stood at 13.143 Million Tonnes in FY17.
On 11 September 2017, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) announced that it has tied up an External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) of USD 350 million with State Bank of India (SBI) for a door to door tenure of 7 years. The ECB has been arranged by SBI from its Hong Kong Branch and would be utilized by SAIL towards meeting expenditure on capital schemes including modernization and expansion (MEP). The company is in the final leg of completing its balance modernization projects, wherein it aims to diversify its product basket with more value added products and ready to use products customized to the market demands.
On 3 October 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Steel Authority of India's Steel Processing Unit (SPU), Kandrori at a function held in Bilaspur. This Steel Processing Unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) shall produce TMT bars. The unit will also be able to produce Earth Quake Resistant and other grades of TMT bars.
On 8 October 2017, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with POSCO for wide ranging technical services for its IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) at Burnpur to assist in realizing the benefits from its new and state of the art plant. Under the agreement, POSCO will provide technical supervising service including its know-how relating to operation and maintenance of Coke-making, Iron and Steel making, Continuous Casting Process, Cold Dust Injection (CDI) operation and Wire-Rod mills. This agreement is a result of an earlier MoU on Technical Collaboration for Operational improvement and Human Resource Development which SAIL and POSCO had entered into in November 2016. This technical agreement will pave the way for sharing of best practices in the area of technology and maintenance which will immensely benefit SAIL-ISP in reaping benefits from its modernized units faster.
Steel Authority of India Limited's (SAIL) first blast furnace Parvati' situated at SAIL's Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) was rebuilt under company's modernization and expansion program and was successfully blown in on 8 May 2018. SAIL-RSP's Blast Furnace No.1 - Parvati was rebuilt with state-of-the-art features and additional capacity. The useful volume of this rebuilt furnace, in its new avatar, has increased from 1139 cubic meter to 1710 cubic metre, as a result of which the annual production capacity of the furnace will go up from 0.438 MT per annum to 1.015 MT per annum.
On 14 June 2018, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated Steel Authority of India Ltd.'s (SAIL) modernized and expanded Bhilai Steel Plant to the nation. With this historic dedication to the nation, SAIL completed its modernization and expansion programme (MODEX) which enhances the steel making capacity of the Company to 21 MTPA.
The Company laid adequate emphasis on development and usage of renewable power sources. While Rooftop Solar Power Plant of 2 MWp capacity was commissioned during the Financial Year 2018-19 at various buildings of Bokaro Steel Plant, tenders have also been invited for installation of another 6.2 MWp capacity of Roof Top Solar Plants at different SAIL Plants/ Units. In addition to this, a new Joint Venture Company GEDCOL SAIL Power Corporation Limited (GSPCL) was incorporated during the Financial Year 2018- 19 to develop a small Hydro Electric Plant of 10 MW capacity at Mandira Dam, Rourkela. SAIL owns 26% equity in the Joint Venture Company whereas remaining 74% equity is owned by Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (GEDCOL), a Government of Odisha Company.
Certain prestigious projects like Statue of Unity, Bogibeel Bridge, etc., where SAIL was one of the largest supplier of steel, were dedicated to the Nation in the Financial Year 2018-19. In addition to this, large quantities of Plates and Structural steel were supplied to prestigious power and irrigation projects as well as Rail and Road infrastructure projects in 2018-19.
During the year 2018-19, Company achieved many milestones. At Bhilai Steel Plant, hot trial of Steel Melting Shop-III (SMS-III) facilities viz. Converter-2, Billet Casters 1 & 2, Billet cum Bloom Caster and RH Degasser has been undertaken. Further, processing of Rail Heat at SMS-III through RH Degasser and Billet-cum-Bloom Caster route has also been achieved during the year. The integrated process route under Modernisation & Expansion Plan is in operation, stabilization & ramp-up. Hon'ble Prime Minister of India has dedicated the Modernized and Expanded Bhilai Steel Plant to the Nation on 14th June, 2018.
At the Bar and Rod Mill, trial rolling of new profiles of TMT Bars was carried out in the FY 2019-20. The mill is under stabilization and is being ramped up to a production level of around 1400 T/day. Steps for manufacturing of Rails with chemistry of R-260 Grade of Steel as per EN-13674 have been initiated. Trial heats were made at SMS-III, rolling was done at URM and the process of testing has started.
At Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), the Blast Furnace No. 5 crossed the milestone of 15.0 MT cumulative production of Hot Metal on 22nd February, 2020 and New Plate Mill achieved the highest ever annual production of 8.7 lakh tonnes. The API 5Lx70 Grade steel was produced and rolled for pipeline transportation system. In addition to this, first lot of steel plates rolled in Plate Mill was dispatched to MIDHANI, Hyderabad for 'GAGANYAN' (Human Space Programme of ISRO) on 28th December, 2019.
Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) developed a number of new products like IRS grade B Steel for M/s. Hindustan Shipyard Limited Vizag, High Tensile Low Alloy Cold Rolled Annealed Grade-IS 513 ISC410LA, High Strength Cold Rolled Annealed Grade-IS 513 ISC440W, etc. to cater to shipbuilding and automotive sectors. Further, under green initiatives, a 2 MW Rooftop- grid-connected Solar Power System and On-Line Continuous Stack monitoring systems have been installed in major shops, in addition to plantation of 74500 saplings.
At IISCO Steel Plant (ISP), production of TMT bars under new brand 'SAIL SeQR' was started on 1st May, 2019 and about 2.3 lakh tonnes were dispatched during the FY 2019-20. Further, various new grades like MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding electrode grade, High Carbon Grades in WR Coils, CHQ Boron, EN8D, SAE1006, etc. were also developed and produced during 2019-20. ISP has also rolled profile of 150 x 150 billets from 200 x 280 blooms. At Salem Steel Plant (SSP), Duplex Grade (32202) was developed and commercialized for chlorine resistant tube manufacturing, submersible pumps, petrol & oil exploration, oil refinery application and desalination plants.
During the year 2019-20, Bhilai Steel Plant of the Company achieved many milestones including, operationalization of 3rd Converter (1st heat taken in Feb' 20) of SMS-III along with Argon Rinsing Station -III, Ladle Furnace-3, two kilns of RMP-III, Power generation from Top Pressure Recovery Turbine (TRT) and Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI) trial in BF-8 along with Oxygen enrichment in PRMS system.
During FY 2019-20, the Company has taken steps to install Pellet Plants in Joint Venture with Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) at SAIL Plants / Mines for utilization of the Pellets in the Steel Plants of the Company. M/s. MECON has prepared a Techno Economic Feasibility Report (TEFR) for a 4 MTPA capacity Pellet Plant at Bokaro Steel Plant in Phase-I. Further, actions like Characterization Study at RDCIS for production of Pellets and discussions with KIOCL on formation of the Joint Venture are being taken as well.
During FY 2019-20, Company exited from two Joint Venture Companies, namely SAL-SAIL JVC Limited and TMT SAL-SAIL JVC Limited, which were incorporated to install Steel Processing Units (SPUs) at Lakhimpur and Barabanki respectively. Shares held by SAIL in these Joint Ventures have been transferred to JV Partner. In addition to this, modalities have been finalized for exit of SAIL from Abhinav SAIL JVC Limited which was created to install a SPU at Hoshangabad in MP. These have been agreed by Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) appointed by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for Abhinav Steel and Power (JV partner of SAIL). Exit of SAIL from this JV will be completed after approval of Committee of Creditors of Abhinav Steel and Power is obtained.
Most of SAIL Plants/Units are certified to ISO 9000, ISO 14000, OHSAS 18000/ ISO 45000, SA 8000, ISO 50000 and ISO 27000 Management Systems. Further, Empanelment of Certification Agencies for the third cycle i.e. 2020-2023 was completed in March, 2020 for Certification to six Management Systems i.e. ISO 9000, ISO 14000, OHSAS 18000/ISO 45000, SA 8000, ISO 27000 and ISO 50000 and related training.
SAIL had already implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) at four of its Integrated Steel Plants i.e. Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), Bokaro Steel Plant(BSL), Rourkela Steel Plant(RSP) and its marketing setup at Central Marketing Organization (CMO). The 5th Integrated Steel Plant i.e. IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) as well as the Corporate Office (CO) have also gone 'LIVE' on SAP-ERP during FY 2019-20. Further, the Company initiated cloud journey by adopting Cloud model for ISP and CO ERP implementation. To improve logistics, bill payment to various transporters, online bill submission has been enabled at some of the Plants/Units for automated processing leading to transparency of operations, faster bill processing cycle, savings of man hours and elimination of manual errors. B2B IT interface has been setup with few vendors for automatic data transfer of Purchase Order and Invoice. Automatic email to vendor on generation of payment voucher has further facilitated the payment process.
During FY 2019-20, projects like New HSM at Rourkela Steel Plant, Upgradation of Stoves of BF-1 at Bokaro Steel Plant, Provision of Hydraulic Mud Gun and Drilling Machine at BF-1 at Bokaro Steel Plant, Converter of SMS-I at Bokaro Steel Plant and Installation of new Rotary Hearth Reheating Furnace at Wheel & Axle Plant in Durgapur Steel Plant worth about Rs. 4,100 crore have been completed.
During FY 2019-20, 70 R&D projects and 50 projects were completed with substantial benefits to the organization. Two projects are being pursued with assistance from the Ministry of Steel: (a) Indigenous development of model based breakout prediction system for Continuous Casters, and (b) Development of automation system for optimum coal blending at coal handling plant of coke oven batteries. Apart from Annual Performance Plan Projects, 22 Short Term Assignments (STAs) were also carried out by RDCIS to investigate technical issues and suggest remedial measures for key concern areas in the Coal, Sinter Plant, Blast furnace, Steel, Refractory and Rolling Mills, etc.
During the year 2019-20, eighteen products have been developed and some of the noteworthy products include resistant steels for Indian construction segment, Boilers and Pressure Vessels, Auto Segments, EME, TLT sector, etc. Collaboration assignments have been pursued with institutions and PSUs such as Indian Oil R&D; C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram; Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee; NML Jamshedpur.
During FY2020-21, closure of two Joint Ventures of the Company namely, SAIL Moil Ferro Alloys (P) Limited and SAIL Bengal Alloy Castings (P) Limited which were formed with MOIL Limited and Burn Standard Company Limited respectively but had failed to take off was completed. SAIL Board approved the exit of SAIL from S&T Mining Company Pvt. Ltd. (Joint Venture between SAIL and Tata Steel Limited) by transfer of the shares held by SAIL in Joint Venture to Tata Steel Limited. The process of share transfer is being pursued with Tata Steel Limited.
During the FY 2020-21, the Company supplied steel to number of Projects of National Importance including Katra to Banihal Tunnel Project; BRTF Leh-Ladakh Project; Leh Airport; Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation; Lower Subansiri Hydel Project Assam; Jiribam-Imphal Railway Project for Northeast Frontier Railway; Agartala - Akhaura Rail Link Project; Tripura, Polavaram Multipurpose National Irrigation Project near Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh and Rambilli Navy Project of DRDO.
During the FY 2020-21, about 64% of the total requirement of 1230 MW was met from the captive Power Plants. SAIL plants procured about 460 Million Units of power through open access route which included purchase from power exchange and purchase of 32 Million units of renewable power from sugar mills in Madhya Pradesh.
During the FY 2020-21, as a part of ongoing research and development initiative, a new Rail grade R-260 was developed along with its Flash Butt welding technology and supplied to Indian Railways. The Company developed WDG4 locomotive wheels as an import substitution item, thereby, furthering the cause of Atmanirbhar initiative of Government of India. Further, SAIL worked towards expanding the product-basket by developing special quality steels such as HC62, HC72, HC80, HCT1130Cr (PC115),CAQ, CHQ, Bright Bar, EN8D, EN8D Cr from Wire Rod Mill of ISP.
During the FY'22 three major facilities were commissioned in SAIL Plants which includes a 3.2 MTPA Hot Strip Mill at Rourkela. Secondly, a new Slab Caster with associated facilities in SMS-I at Bokaro which phased out obsolete Ingot casting route with continuous casting of
steel and thirdly, installation of '1X250 MW Thermal plant' at Rourkela was commissioned by NSPCL, a 50:50 JV of SAIL and NTPC. The Company developed 11 new Steel products using the newly commissioned production facilities viz., Bar & Rod Mill and Universal Rail Mill at Bhilai Steel Plant; Medium Structural Mill at Durgapur Steel Plant; New Plate Mill at Rourkela Steel Plant; Cold Rolling Mill-III at Bokaro
Steel Plant; Wire Rod Mill at IISCO Steel Plant. The New Hot Strip Mill-2 (HSM-2) commissioned in March, 2022. During FY 2021-22, about 9.6 lakh tonnes of R260/60E1 prime rails have been produced. The new 250MW captive power facility at Rourkela Steel Plant was commissioned in March, 2022.
In 2022-23, 20 MW Unit of New Captive Power facility of (2x20) MW capacity at Durgapur Steel Plant commissioned effective on 30th September, 2022. The iron ore dispatch by road from Anjrel Block of Rowghat Mine to Antagarh Rail Siding, on the Dalli-Rajhara-Rowghat Rail Line, commenced from 22nd August, 2022.
In FY 2022-23, SAIL introduced new grade of steel 'Duplex Stainless Steel' developed by Salem Steel Plant; enhanced its efforts towards new grades of special quality at IISCO Steel Plant like AWS A5.17 EM12K, 5.5 mm and AWS A5.23 EA2 (Mo bearing) at Wire Rod Mill for welding applications; Ultra Low Nb Structural (E-350 BR), IS 2062 E410 C and Channel 300 rolled out at Durgapur Steel Plant; Bhilai Steel Plant developed Grades IS 7887 CAQ Gr1 and EWNR Wire Rods 5.5/6/7mm at its Wire Rod Mill; Grades like HSFQ 450 and MC-30/40/55 developed in Hot Strip Mill-II at Rourkela Steel Plant and Grade EN 10025-5/ IS 11587 HR Coils at Hot Strip Mill of Bokaro Steel Plant.