Panel suggests technological mix for steel making

A high level committee headed by the Development Commissioner, Orissa government, has suggested technological mix for production of steel in the state.

It has suggested the adoption of normal kiln route for steel industries with an envisaged capacity of up to 1 million tonne and gas based route for units with a production capacity of 1 million to 3 million tonne per annum.

Similarly, DRI route has been suggested for units with capacity of more than 3 million tonne per annum.

The limit on various routes for steel production been suggested to minimise the environmental pollution while making maximum use of the available coal in the state which is qualitatively inferior, sources said.

The committee has sent its recommendations to the industry department. This would be placed before the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) in its next meeting scheduled to be held in the second week of June.

If the recommendations are approved by the SLSWCA, they would be placed before the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) headed by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik for approval.

SLSWCA, in its 29th sitting in August last year year, had taken a decision to constitute a committee to suggest the technological mix for minimising the environmental pollution in the steel units particularly those producing sponge iron.

The recommendation of the committee assumes importance as 25 investment proposals in the steel sector including expansion of capacity are pending for approval before the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd. (Ipicol), the state level nodal agency for investment promotion.

Sources said, with the total steel production in the state estimated at 7.1 million tonne, the production through the blast furnace (BF) route is about 5.37 million tonne. Some projects, which had proposed to adopt blast furnace route, are still continuing to make steel through the sponge iron route.