The Hindu Business Line : Indigenous steel cuts cost of aircraft carrier

A CONSORTIUM of defence labs, public and private sector companies has developed warship-grade steel, which is being used in the construction of the country's first aircraft carrier.

While the Hyderabad-based Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) provided the technology inputs, the Naval Materials Research Laboratory, did the corrosion resistance of the welded steel. Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), Ranchi and Krishna Industries, Nagpur facility, Bajrang Alloys of Raipur are involved in production. The Directorate of Naval Architecture of the Indian Navy is closely associated.

The aircraft carrier, being built at Cochin Shipyard Ltd, requires 20,000 tonnes of high quality steel, in the form of large plates, sheets and bulb-bars. The ship itself is gigantic, measuring 252 metres in length, 54 metres in breadth. Work began this April.

Already 2,500 tonnes of required steel has been supplied to the Cochin Shipyard. All the facilities needed have been established at SAIL, HEC and the DMRL, according to Dr A.M. Sriramamurthy, Director of DMRL, here.

The development marks a major indigenisation of technology and saving of forex. Earlier, the Indian Navy was importing the warship-grade steel from Russia, he told Business Line.

While the HEC did the ingot melting and slab manufacture, the plate and sheet was manufactured at the Rourkela and Bokaro steel plants. Krishna Industries is doing the final rolling process, especially for the bulb bars.

Being a high strength, low allow steel and corrosion resistant, the indigenous efforts have helped make it cost-effective as well. The steel can be used in building submarines and other ships that need to encounter rough environment conditions in the sea.

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