Tata Steel's Gopalpur unit kicks off ferro chrome production

Tata Steel said on Tuesday it has commenced ferro chrome production at its recently commissioned unit at Gopalpur, in south Odisha. The ferro chrome production is in compliance with all the technical parameters.
 

Chromite briquettes used for making ferro-chrome have been produced by the briquetting plant at the ferro-chrome plant complex. The briquetting plant had earlier commenced production on January 23, 2017. For its first greenfield ferro chrome plant, the steel major is sourcing chrome ore from its chromite mine at Sukinda in Jajpur district.

D B Sundara Ramam, executive-in-charge, ferro alloys & minerals division of Tata Steel said, "This marks the completion of the commissioning of the ferro-chrome plant. It also goes a long way in consolidating our footprint in Odisha and the long standing partnership with the state towards industrial progress of the region."

As part of the anchor investment in Tata Steel's Gopalpur industrial park, the Rs 542 crore ferro-chrome plant has an installed capacity of 55,000 tonne per annum (tpa). The plant was inaugurated on November 30, 2016 by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

It is a unique environment-friendly plant with state-of-the-art pollution control equipment and technology such as the ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) and STP (Sewage Treatment Plant). The plant has 100 per cent water harvesting facility that caters to most of the water needs of the plant. It has an indigenously built semi-closed hybrid furnace, which is first of its kind in India and components procured from all over the world to maintain high standards of quality and safety. Also, it is the first plant in India to use briquetting method of chrome ore fines agglomeration.

Besides the plant at Gopalpur, Tata Steel has two other ferro-chrome plants in Odisha- a 65,000 tpa plant at Bamnipal in Keonjhar district and the other at Athagarh in Cuttack district of 55,000 tpa capacity under the management of its subsidiary T S Alloys.