SAIL adds 1.6 MT new coke making capacity at Rourkela, Burnpur

State-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) today said it has added 1.6 million tonnes of new coke making capacity to its Rourkela and Burnpur facilities at a cost of Rs 910 crore.

The new capacities were added as part of its Rs 72,000 crore modernisation and expansion plan to take its annual steel output to 21.40 million tonne per annum (MTPA) by 2013 from the present 12.8 MTPA.

"Coke making facilities have received a major fillip in the expansion programme.... On July 28, 2012, heating of the new 0.768 MTPA Coke Oven Battery was commenced at Rourkela Steel Plant. Earlier at IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur, similar facilities for coke making were started...Which has a capacity of 0.88 MTPA," SAIL said in a statement.

Keeping in view the growing energy scarcity in the country, these batteries have also been designed for maximum energy efficiency, it said adding, "cumulative investment in these two projects have been to the tune of Rs 910 crore."

Besides, the company said many other projects under the expansion scheme -- from coke and iron making to finished steel production -- are in advanced stages of completion.
The cumulative expenditure incurred so far on the modernisation and expansion programme of SAIL is about Rs 37,000 crore, including Rs 11,000 crore for the financial year 2011-12.

For the current fiscal, the expenditure is expected to be about Rs 12,000 crore against which around Rs 2,000 crore have already been spent till June, the company said.

"SAIL is geared towards meeting its modernisation and expansion targets, and we are optimistic that our investments will translate into tangible results by the end of next year", said Chairman SAIL C S Verma.