JSPL hopes to reach 6 mt steel capacity at Angul by 2015 end

JSPL aims to produce sponge iron soon using synthesis gas from its coal gasification plant at the site

Naveen Jindal controlled Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) hopes to achieve its envisaged capacity of six million tonne at its Angul steel making facility by the end of 2015.

“We congratulated chief minister Naveen Patnaik on his fourth term in Odisha and informed him that JSPL is through with Phase-I capacity of 2.5 million tonne. By the end of 2015, we hope to achieve full capacity”, JSPL chairman Naveen Jindal said.

He said, “The company's coal gasification plant at Angul has already started. When a new plant starts operation, there are some teething problems but we hope that the plant will be able to run without glitches by the end of this month. We are looking to inaugurate the plant by September/October this year.” JSPL aimed to produce sponge iron soon using synthesis gas from its coal gasification plant.

The company's DRI (direct reduced iron) plant has a unique feature of using synthesis gas from the coal gasification plant as reductant. The DRI-gasification route has the advantage of using high ash coal which is predominantly available in the vicinity of the project site. JSPL has signed an agreement with Lurgi Technology Company of South Africa, for providing technology for coal gasification. The DRI plant has a capacity of two million tonne per annum (mtpa).

JSPL’s Angul facility has already commissioned its plate mill. The company is bringing semi-finished steel products from its Raigarh plant in Chhattisgarh to produce steel plates there.

The company has been allotted Utkal B1 coal block in the state with an estimated reserve of 228 million tonne.