Tata Iron & Steel Company Ltd (Tata Steel) has decided to postpone the revamp exercise of its G-blast furnace, which is the company's more modern furnace.
The company had earlier planned to give a facelift to the furnace during this quarter with the aim to increase productivity levels. The template capacity of the G-blast furnace is 3,500 tonne per day.
"We have decided to postpone it for some time. We may go ahead with it next year," a company spokesperson said. The furnace is already producing to its capacity, the official added.
The company has rebuilt its F-blast furnace (the older furnace), for which it spent Rs 200 crore in the last three months. This exercise has increased the capacity of the furnace by 15 per cent taking it to 2,200 tonne per day.
As a result of this exercise, production had plateaued during the first quarter. However, company officials said the exercise would help the company take the pressure in the future when demand peaks.
During the last financial year, Tata Steel produced 4.04 million tonne of hot metal and 3.75 million tonne of crude steel. The company is targeting to produce about 4.4 million tonne of hot metal and 4 million tonne of crude steel, during the current financial year, which is close to a 10 per cent jump.
The official also said Tata Steel is targeting to achieve a 10 per cent topline growth by the end of this financial year.
The G-blast furnace is originally an Italian furnace, which was inaugurated by JRD Tata himself. The furnace was imported from Italy and installed in Jamshedpur in 1992.
