Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers and Steel Shri Ram Vilas Paswan laid the foundation stone for the company's ninth Steel Processing Unit (SPU) at Kandrori in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh this afternoon. Present on the occasion were State Chief Minister Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Hon'ble MP (Kangra) Shri Chander Kumar, State Transport Minister Shri Kishan Kapoor, Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Shri Ramesh Dhawala, MLAs Dr. Rajen Sushant and Shri Deshraj, SAIL Chairman Shri S.K. Roongta, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor (MoS) Shri B.S. Meena, Managing Director Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) Shri V. Shyamsundar, senior officials of union and state govt., etc.
The upcoming Kangra SPU to be set up at a cost of about Rs 79 crore will have an installed capacity of 1 lakh tonnes per annum. SAIL's Ranchi-based Centre for Engineering & Technology will be the project consultant. Billets to be used as input for the SPU will be supplied by Durgapur Steel Plant. Expected to be completed in 18 months, the unit will have a TMT bar mill with 60,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) capacity for TMT bars of 8 to 12 mm diameter and 40, 000 tpa capacity for sizes 16 to 25 mm.
Speaking on the occasion, the Steel Minister thanked the SAIL management for commencing the activities of Kangra SPU within a very short span of time. He said SPUs will help consumption of steel to increase and make good quality steel accessible to the common man. He said the decision to set up SPUs was in tandem with one of the aims of the National Steel Policy of increasing per capita steel consumption in rural areas from the present 2 kgs to 4 kgs by 2019-20. He urged SAIL Management to ensure that the project is completed before schedule.
State Chief Minister Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal said it was a historical day for Himachal Pradesh and for entire Northern India. He assured of all possible support from the state govt. in taking the Kangra SPU forward. Prof. Dhumal added that if what is produced in the region is marketed locally, the state govt. will be benefited.
Shri B.S. Meena informed the gathering that SAIL and the Steel Ministry are working in tandem to set up SPUs across the country and said he was confident that SAIL will ensure the success of the Kangra SPU. Talking about the low consumption of steel in India, he said SPUs will help to make available quality steel at affordable prices to consumers in the villages and help increase per capita steel consumption in rural areas.
Shri S.K. Roongta thanked the Steel Minister and CM for providing necessary infrastructure support for the Kangra SPU. He said setting up of SPUs would help provide the comman man with quality steel from SAIL which is well accepted in the country. He said SAIL's CSR efforts show that 'there's a little bit of SAIL in everybody's lives'.
MP Shri Chander Kumar, MLA Shri Deshraj and Shri V. Shyamsundar also spoke on the occasion.
SAIL has decided to set up 11 steel processing units in 7 states where it does not have any production facility, the foundation stones of which have been laid at Betiah, Mahnar and Gaya in Bihar; Gwalior, Ujjain and Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir. These SPUs will help in downstream processing of SAIL products, adding value to the ever-widening product portfolio of the company and also contribute to the development of the respective regions by catalysing rural-based ancillary industries.
Steel Minister lays foundation stone for SAIL's 9th SPU at Himachal Pradesh
Photo caption:
Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers and Steel Shri Ram Vilas Paswan laying the foundation stone of SAIL's SPU at Kangra today (5thfrom left) in the presence of (from left) Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor (MoS)Shri B.S. Meena, SAIL Chairman Shri S.K. Roongta, State Chief Minister Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal and (right) Managing Director Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) Shri V. Shyamsundar and others.
