Tata Steel claimed it has achieved a new milestone of becoming the first Indian steel plant to produce 10 million tonnes per annum of hot metal from a single location at Jamshedpur in Jharkhand.

It’s a significant achievement in journey of iron making which started in 1911 with a capacity of only 0.16 mtpa. Today, the production stands at 10 mtpa - a growth of 63 times in capacity, said the company in a statement on Saturday.

Since 1992, the hot metal production took a quantum jump to 10 mtpa from 2.4 mtpa, it added.

The expansion of hot metal production capacity at Tata Steel may be divided into three phases with the commissioning and up-gradation of A-E Blast Furnace between 1911 and 1952. In the phase II (1952-1992) blast furnace ‘F’ was commissioned along with gradation of raw material and auxiliary system. In the last phase, the new furnaces G, H and I and upgradation of two other furnaces was taken up in 1992.

Tata Steel said the modernisation journey in 1992 began with the commissioning of blast furnace ‘G’, which increased the rated capacity from 2.4 mtpa to 3.15 mtpa. The working volumes of ‘C, D’ and ‘E’ blast furnaces were also increased in the following years.

FY’15 has been a game changer for the blast furnaces which incorporated innovative operational strategies, thereby leading to annual savings by significant reduction of fuel rate, it said.

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