CET working on SAIL projects

CET was the in-house design, engineering and consultancy organization of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

According to A S Mathur, executive director of CET, it was fully focused on SAIL's growth projects and gearing itself up for providing engineering and consultancy services for all SAIL expansion projects in future.

The projects in hand now were components of SAIL's ongoing expansion plan aimed at improving the performance of SAIL plants both quantitatively and qualitatively. In 2007-08, 15 projects at SAIL plants were commissioned, backed by services provided by CET.

CET was at present handling projects in SAIL plants, either under implementation or under tendering process, like modernization of one blast furnace each Bhilai and Bokaro, a new 7m tall battery at Rourkela, a slab caster at Bhilai, one bloom caster at Bhadravati, the Coal Dust injection units at Rourkela, Durgapur, Bhilai and Bokaro plants, the augmentation of steel melting shop at Rourkela, one oxygen plant at Rourkela as well as the Wire Rod Mill and Merchant Mill at Durgapur steel plant.

Sources in CET said the projects being handled were mostly being implemented in running shops as SAIL plants could not stop steel proeuction at any point of time. This aspect created a major challenge for CET experts as they had to work on development of innovative desi and implementation methodology aimed at minimising any disruption to ongoing production while ensuring safety of workers at the plant as well as the ongoing projects at the same time.

These assignments were much more difficult than installing facilities at greenfield sites.