Jamshedpur, Nov. 18: Tata Steel today took a step towards beginning a new chapter by dedicating its Kalinganagar Steel plant to the State of Odisha.
The long journey of Tata Steel has seen the company re-define its sustainability strategies in a number of ways to become the global steel industry benchmark in value creation and corporate citizenship. Tata Steel�s Kalinganagar steel plant will set a high benchmark in technology and other performance parameters in the country excelling in operations and ensuring a total commitment to enhancing stakeholder value.
The Kalinganagar Steel Plant is the largest single-location Greenfield steel project in India. The first phase (3 MnTPA) of 6 MnTPA will produce world-class flat, lighter, high-tensile strength steel and will augment its Indian production to around 13 MnTPA of crude steel in India. It will help the Company expand its portfolio to high-grade flat products for ship-building, defence equipment, energy and power, infrastructure building, aviation and lifting & excavation. This expansion will also reinforce Tata Steel`s leadership position in the domestic automotive segment.
The state-of-the-art steel plant was dedicated to the State by Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha, in the presence of Cyrus P Mistry, chairman, Tata Sons, Mr T V Narendran, managing director, Tata Steel India & SEA, Mr Koushik Chatterjee, Group Executive Director (Finance and Corporate), Tata Steel, dignitaries of the Government of Odisha, guests from Tata Group and senior management of Tata Steel.
In his address, Patnaik dwelt at length on Tata Steel�s age-old relationship with Odisha and said, �The contribution of Tata Steel to the State�s industrial and economic progress has been laudable and the setting up of this plant is a milestone in this journey. The spin-off benefits from this plant will accrue to the local economy of Kalinganagar and Jajpur.� The Chief Minister also complimented the company for its CSR initiatives in and around Kalinganagar.
Speaking on the momentous occasion, Mistry said, �The Kalinganagar Steel plant is yet another journey of growth and development for Odisha, Tata Group and Tata Steel. It is indeed a great pleasure to dedicate this plant to the State of Odisha today. This plant is our key commitment towards nation building and an effort to ensure sustainable growth. I am confident that the plant will achieve global benchmarks in steel production, and at the same time will remain committed to growth and development of the state of Odisha.�
Narendran said, �It is a moment of pride for us. The Kalinganagar project is symbolic of the commitment made by us to our stakeholders, business partners and to the society at large. I thank the entire Tata Steel fraternity, past and present, whose relentless dedication and hard work has made this dream come alive. We are grateful to both the State and central government for their support and commitment in making the largest single location Greenfield steel plant in India a success.�
He added, �Though the steel sector is going through a tumultuous period, Tata Steel aims to hold a strong ground in tough times. Kalinganagar will not only make a major contribution to develop India�s steel sector, but will also stand out as a quintessential sustainable business project, which involves social inclusion and environment preservation, besides ensuring best quality steel making.�
Speaking on the occasion, Chatterjee said, “The Kalinganagar Plant defines the vision of Tata Steel towards future growth and value creation for the company and its stakeholders. The investment in building this state-of-the-art Greenfield venture also reaffirms our commitment towards the people and State of Odisha.�The Kalinganagar plant will enhance the future competitiveness of Tata Steel in terms of cost competitiveness and profitability and this investment demonstrates Tata Steel’s alignment with the Center’s Make in India strategy.�
�While the journey to build the project has been challenging, we would like to thank the Government of India, Government of Odisha and the people of Kalinganagar for their unstinted support in building the project. This project is�also a demonstration of Tata Steel’s continued commitment towards social rehabilitation, working with the community over the last decade in Kalinganagar �to address the needs of the community and improving the quality of life of the people in and around project site”, he added.
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Built at an investment of over Rs 22,000 crore in the first phase, the Kalinganagar plant boasts of India�s largest blast furnace at 4330 cubic meter with production capacity of 3.2 MnTPA. The plant will witness the seamless movement of raw material with its twin wagon tippler, the first installation in India having unloading capacity of 20 MnTPA. The steel plant will also boast of the most advanced carbon hearth technology along with on-site power generation (202MW) through gases discharged by coke oven and blast furnace.