The research & development wing of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the largest steel maker of the nation, has been conferred the coveted "National Award for R&D Efforts in Industry (2005) in New Materials". The award has been instituted by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. SAIL's Research & Development Centre for Iron & Steel (RDCIS), headquartered at Ranchi, bagged the honour for its pioneering contributions in the arena of design, development and application of new special steel products to meet the stringent requirements of various market segments.
The key technological innovations of RDCIS include development of low carbon extra deep drawing steel with superior formability for auto segment, titanium bearing LPG grade hot rolled coils with minimum strain aging for cylinder manufacture, SAE 1070 and SAIL boron billets with better wear resistance index for tractor disc application, and SAIL-HITEN 690 AR grade plates with high strength and ductility for ATM chest fabrication. SAIL boron and SAIL-HITEN grades of steel have been developed for the first time in the country facilitating both import substitution and export promotion. Besides, RDCIS achieved a major breakthrough by becoming the first research unit in the country to design and develop a prototype noise barrier for highways.
The award will be presented in the inaugural session of the 19th National Conference on In-house R&D in Industry that will be held during 21-22 November, 2005 at New Delhi.