BSP fabricates Bloom Caster Tundish in-house, a first for SAIL

The Steel Structural Shop of Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) has achieved the first-ever in-house fabrication of a Bloom Caster Tundish within the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), marking a significant step towards self-reliance and internal value creation at the state-run steel major.

 

The tundish, weighing 13.2 tonnes and valued at around ₹42 lakh, was fabricated internally, resulting in substantial cost savings by eliminating external procurement, BSP said in a statement. BSP is SAIL’s Chhattisgarh-based integrated steel plant.

 

A tundish is a critical intermediate vessel in the continuous casting process, acting as a buffer and refining reactor between the ladle and the mould to ensure a steady, clean and uniform flow of molten steel for consistent quality.

 

Officials said the initiative has reduced the conventional procurement lead time from six to eight months to just two months, reflecting improved internal planning, enhanced fabrication capability and tighter execution control.

 

At a brief function held at the Steel Structural Shop, officials formally dedicated the tundish to the plant. They commended the structured execution of what they described as a new, non-routine and strategically important fabrication, while stressing strict adherence to safety practices and the need to strengthen a 360-degree safety observation approach involving employees, contractual supervisors, engineers and executives.

 

The achievement underlines BSP’s push towards in-house value addition, reduced dependence on long-cycle external procurement and improved responsiveness to operational requirements. The successful fabrication establishes a replicable internal capability for future high-value structural work, while reinforcing cost discipline, safety compliance and execution reliability.

 

Meanwhile, SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plant recorded strong production performance in November 2025, achieving multiple benchmarks across major production units.

  At Blast Furnace-8, hot metal production rose to 2,44,815 tonnes, surpassing last November’s 2,43,130 tonnes. Total hot metal production for the plant increased to 5,12,081 tonnes from 5,05,761 tonnes in November 2022.

 

In steel melting operations, SMS-3 reported cast steel production of 3,02,127 tonnes, exceeding its previous November output of 3,00,840 tonnes. Billet production reached 2,07,791 tonnes, surpassing the earlier record of 2,02,652 tonnes set in November 2023. Overall crude steel output rose to 4,90,407 tonnes, improving upon the earlier benchmark of 4,85,035 tonnes.