It's a rebirth of a legacy industrial unit in the country. IISCO's new 2.5 million tonne steel plant, which is being formally commissioned by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, is not only a epoch-making event for Steel Authority of India but for the steel sector for more reasons than one.

The newest plant of SAIL will replace the old 0.4 million IISCO facility at Burnpur in West Bengal that still produces pig iron and a little bit of construction steel.

The new unit is devoted fully towards production of construction steel in its various usages -- covering small housing to sophisticated infrastructure needs. "It is geared to cater to the emerging rural steel market and infrastructure sector including certain specialised product not produced so far in the country", said a SAIL official.

Set up at a cost of Rs 16,480 crore, higher than the originally-envisaged Rs 14,445 crore in 2006, the steel making complex however, is unique in its low land usage -- just 953 acres. This is less than half of what Indian steel makers are used to in the country.

SAIL also overcame an engineering challenge by constructing the plant largely on a nearly century-old slag dump keeping the existing production area free for future utilisation.

SAIL insiders told Business Line that after taking up the construction work engineers stumbled onto deep seated rocks underneath the slag dump. According to SAIL Chairman CS Verma much of the unforeseen hurdles underground caused delay in project execution and cost escalation.

Once an ailing private entity and now an integrated unit of SAIL, IISCO's new plant also saved employment of thousands of steel makers. Currently, it has a staff strength of 8,359. For West Bengal, it has been the biggest investment in many years and opened up opportunities for significant indirect employment also.

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