SAIL chief makes plan for timely completion of Burnpur project

Close on heels of a parliamentary panel slamming SAIL for delays in modernisation especially at its IISCO steel plant (ISP) Burnpur, the PSU has assigned critical jobs at the facility to various teams for "timely completion" of project.

"SAIL Chairman CS Verma handed over assignments for early commissioning of BOF (basic oxygen furnace) & CCP (continuous casting plant) Complex to various groups of the plant. The 'assignment' concept is the result of weeks of interactions with the ISP top brass to find out issues that are important for timely completion of the project," the steel major said.

The development comes barely a fortnight after Standing Committee on Coal and Steel pulled up the PSU for dragging modernisation and expansion plan "year after year".

"What is disturbing to the Committee is that IISCO expansion project which was to be completed by December 2010, has been delayed and now the completion will be by June 2013," the panel said.

According to SAIL statement, all identified critical jobs at ISP have been broken into small activities and the teams have been formed for this purpose for timely completion of the various jobs.

Verma, who reviewed progress at ISP, as per the SAIL statement "urged for early completion of the BOF-CCP unit to ensure integrated commissioning."

The PSU major said the expansion and modernisation work at Burnpur has reached an advance stage and units like Coke Oven, Sinter Plant and Wire Rod Mill have already commenced production.

The parliamentary panel had expressed unhappiness over almost stagnant production by SAIL for last four years saying "the physical performance of the company indicate a stagnant production as approx 14.5 MT of hot metal 13.6 MT of crude steel, 12.8 MT of saleable steel and 0.3 MT of pig iron during each of the last four years".

The committee chaired by Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee had asked the government and the PSU to expedite expansion.

SAIL has been implementing modernisation and expansion plan of its five integrated steel plants at Bhilai, Bokaro, Rourkela, Durgapur and Burnpur and at the special steel plant in Salem to increase capacity of crude steel from 12.84 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 21.4 MTPA.

The government earlier had said that the current phase of modernisation and expansion plan of SAIL is likely to be completed progressively by 2013-14.