The Hindu Business Line : Re-rolling steel mill inaugurated

STEEL sector is the most crucial as the country is moving into the fast lane and a number of industrial units are likely to come up in Visakhapatnam district based on the steel plant during the next 10-15 years, the Finance Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, has said.

He was speaking at a function after inaugurating Velagapudi Steels, a re-rolling mill, at Sampathpuram near Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district on Friday afternoon. He said Visakhapatnam had the advantage of having the number one port in the country and that gives a great boost to industrial growth.

"The special economic zone and several other projects including the software units will surely make Vizag one of the most important industrial centres in the years to come and the Government has drafted several policies to regulate and spur the growth," he said.

Mr V. Gopalakrishna Prasad, the Chairman and Managing Director, said the mill had been set up with technology under licence from Hennigsdorfer Stahl Engineering Gmbh, Germany (HSE).

"The quenching and self-tempering (QST) technology will enable us to produce high-strength rebars. The plant will initially have the capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes per annum. It will subsequently be enhanced to one lakh tonnes," he said.

Mr C. Siva Prasad, the Director, Finance, said the mill had been set up at a cost of Rs 23 crore, the equity component being Rs 12 crore. The expansion may require another Rs 1-1.5 crore, he said.

He said the mill would get the bulk of the billets from the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (the Vizag steel plant) and a long-term contract had been signed. However, it would also get some from the SAIL and others.

Mr Raj Kumar Markan, the Chairman and Managing Director of H&K Rolling Mill Engineers Private Ltd, Mumbai, said his company was supplying the requisite technology. His was the exclusive collaborator of HSE in the Indian region.

He explained the features of the technology and said QST Thermex rebars, having high strength coupled with excellent ductility, would replace the conventional cold-rolled rebars. "At present, eight to nine million tonnes of rebars are being produced in the country and by March, 2006, we expect at least half of them will be QST thermex rebars. These rebars are specially suitable for construction industry in seismic zones," he said.

Mr K.K. Rao, the Director, Operations, the Visakhapatnam steel plant, said that steel consumption could be brought down in construction work with the new rebars. "There may be a saving of one tonne or so. For 10 tonnes of conventional rebars, eight or eight-and-a-half QST rebars may be sufficient," he said.

Mr K. Ramakrishna, the State Minister for Commercial Taxes, Mr K.A. Naidu, the Director, Personnel (Vizag Steel Plant) and Mr H.S. Chatwal, the Director, Commercial, Vizag Steel Plant, also spoke.

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