Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers and Steel Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan today laid the foundation stone for the fifth Steel Processing Unit (SPU) of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) at Billowa village in Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh. State Chief Minister Mr Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Union Minister of State for Telecommunications & Information Technology Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia, Gwalior MP Smt Yashodhara Raje, members of the Vidhan Sabha, SAIL Chairman Mr. S.K. Roongta and Managing Director Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) Mr. R. Ramaraju were also present on the occasion.
The Gwalior SPU will produce TMT bars in 8 mm to 25 mm diameter from billets supplied by SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP). Being built at a cost of around Rs 83 crore, the unit will have a TMT bar mill of 100,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) capacity. Other major facilities will include a pusher-type reheating furnace, mill trains, crop-cum-cobble shear, TMT line, cooling bed, dividing shear, cut-to-length and bundling & tying facilities for TMT bars. The SPU will also have warehousing facility. The entire project is expected to be completed in 18 months.
Speaking on the occasion, the Steel Minister said SAIL has become a global steel player. He thanked the SAIL management for speedy processing of SPUs and said these SPUs would wipe tears off many eyes. He said steel demand in the country at 13% is quite strong as against 6% production and the future of steel industry is very bright. During tenure of the present govt. steel PSUs have become robust and strong, earning profit to the tune of more than Rs 20,000 crore.
State Chief Minister Mr Chauhan assured of all possible support from the state govt. in taking the Gwalior SPU forward. He added, just like we have ensured that the land for the SPU is transferred in record time, other necessary steps shall also be taken promptly.
Union Minister of State for Telecommunications & Information Technology Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia and Gwalior MP Smt Yashodhara Raje also spoke on the occasion.
Talking about SAIL/BSP's past, SAIL Chairman Mr. S.K. Roongta said Bhilai Steel Plant had been part of MP and had now become a part of Chhatisgarh and through these 3 SPUs, SAIL is linking Bhilai to MP once again. He said SAIL is a leader in CSR activities and also one of the most profitable company in the country and through these SPUs, SAIL will be ensuring supply of quality TMT to the local customers. Mr Roongta also thanked the MP govt for speedily providing land.
This will be SAIL's third SPU in Madhya Pradesh. Mr Paswan had earlier laid the foundation stone for an SPU in Hoshangabad district which will produce angles, channels, beams/joists and TMT bars, being set up with an investment of around Rs. 154 crore. The other SPU at Ujjain being set up with an investment of around Rs 100 crore will produce TMT bars in 8 mm to 25 mm diameter. The three units being set up in Madhya Pradesh will help contribute to the development of the region by catalysing rural-based ancillary industries.
SAIL's first SPU coming up at Betiah in Bihar at a cost of around Rs. 236 crore will have the capacity to produce 265,000 tonnes of TMT bars and pipes. Another SPU at Mahnar in Bihar, being set up in two phases at a cost of Rs. 265 crore, will have the capacity to produce 1.5 lakh tonnes of black and galvanised tubes and 1 lakh tonnes of TMT bars, and will also have coil cutting and corrugation facilities.
SAIL has decided to set up 9 steel processing units in 6 states where it does not have any production facility to meet the market demand for tailor-made steel products and to help increase per capita steel consumption in rural areas. The SPUs will use products like hot rolled coils, billets and TMT bars produced by SAIL's main integrated steel plants to manufacture a wide variety of steel items that can be utilised by the common man.
