WB: PM to lay foundation of ISP revival programme

New Delhi, Dec 22: In efforts aimed at reviving West Bengal's industrial heritage, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation of the Rs 9,600-crore greenfield modernisation and expansion programme of IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) at Burnpur on December 24.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee and Union Ministers Ram Vilas Paswan (Chemicals and Fertilisers and Steel) and Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi (Information and Broadcasting) will be present on the occasion.

The event holds great significance for the people of West Bengal's Durgapur-Asansol industrial belt who have waited several decades for the revival of the Burnpur-based plant which was once Bengal's pride.

The region, once described as the Ruhr of India, was the dreamchild of the state's first Chief Minister Dr B C Roy.

The erstwhile Indian Iron and Steel Co Ltd (IISCO), which once owned this plant, was a blue-chip company during the initial post-Independence years and had its shares traded on the London Stock Exchange.

Gradually its fortunes declined sharply, resulting in a serious setback for Bengal's industrial heritage.

The management of IISCO was taken over by the Union Government in 1972. The company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of SAIL in 1978-79. Since then SAIL has been supporting the unit through various means, including financial support and procurement of imported coal, to sustain its operations.

However, IISCO continued to be in the red due to high cost of operations stemming from its obsolete technology, ageing equipment with low productivity and a large workforce. It became a BIFR company in 1994.

IISCO's fortunes turned around in 2003-04, following implementation of a revival plan formulated by SAIL and approved by the Government.

ISP was born in February 2006, following the amalgamation of IISCO with SAIL. The Burnpur-based ISP has the capacity to produce 4,26,000 tonnes of saleable steel, mainly structurals and bars and rods, and 2,54,000 tonnes of pig iron annually. The plant also produces a large number of special steel sections used for fabrication of rail wagons and for construction of barrages and bridges.

The expansion of ISP is an integral part of SAIL's growth plan to produce 23 million tonnes of hot metal by 2010.

Installation of state-of-the-art environment-friendly and energy-efficient steel making technology, as envisaged in the expansion programme, will help ISP multiply its crude steel production capacity from the present 0.5 million tonnes to 2.5 million tonnes by the year 2010.

Among the new facilities that will be installed as part of ISP's expansion to provide the plant with a competitive edge are a large-volume blast furnace, coke oven battery, two sinter plants, three converters with continuous billet and beam blank/bloom casters, heavy section mill of 0.6 million tonne capacity and wire rod and bar mill of 1.2 million tonne capacity, a company statement said today.

UNI