Jamshedpur, Feb 15: Tata Steel Jamshedpur plant was originally constructed for a capacity of 160,000 tonnes of pig iron, 100,000 tonnes of ingot steel, 70,000 tonnes of rails, beams and shapes, and 20,000 tonnes of bars, hoops and rods. The plant essentially consisted of a battery of 180 non-recovery coke ovens and 30 by-product ovens with a Sulphuric Acid plant, two blast furnaces (each of 350 tonnes per day capacity), one 300 tonne hot metal mixer, four open hearth furnaces of 50 tonne capacity each, one steam engine driven 40-inch reversing blooming mill, one 28-inch reversing combination rail and structural mill with re-heating furnaces, and one 16- inch and two 10-inch rolling mills. Besides, the steel works had a power house, auxiliary facilities and a well-equipped laboratory. The cost of the plant as erected came to around Rs 23 million.
The first blast furnace was blown-in on 2nd December 1911, and the first ingot rolled on 16th February 1912. Liquid Steel was poured into the ingot-moulds to form ingots. The ingot moulds used to be manufactured at the ingot mould foundry and the solidified ingots were rolled into slabs, bars, blooms and billets.
