Tata Steel begins coke production Kalinga Nagar plant

Tata Steel's three million tonne Kalinga Nagar greenfield unit has commenced coke production, the company said in a release today.

"The production of coke from the coke oven plant is among the major achievements from Kalinga Nagar Project, Odisha and we are extremely happy to reach the milestone. We are confident of meeting our deadlines for the commissioning of the first phase of 3 million tonne and rolling out of crude and saleable steel from the plant," Rajiv Kumar, vice president ( operations ), Kalinga Nagar unit.

Heating of the coke ovens had started in May.

Coking coal when heated in coke ovens in absence of oxygen, releases the volatile components and gets converted to coke which is then used in blast furnace along with iron ore for producing Hot Metal. This Hot Metal is further processed during steel-making.

Various other units of plant will start commercial production sequentially, said Tata Steel. In the first phase, the steel plant will have two coke oven battery, each comprising 88 ovens and having a gross coke production capacity of 1.5 MTPA. With this event, Coke Oven gas also will be available, which will be used as fuel for other production units.