The board of director of Steel Authority of India Ltd has approved a proposal for expansion of Salem Steel Plant (SSP) in Tamil Nadu. The expansion plan envisages installation of steel making facilities, a continuous slab caster and expansion of the plant’s cold rolling capacity. The capacity addition is proposed to be completed within 36 months. The new steel making facility with the capacity to produce 180,000tn of stainless steel slabs per annum will create input security for SSP and position it to become cost competitive. The steel making facility will include a 50tn electric arc furnace, 60tn AOD converter with ladle furnace and single strand slab caster. SSP’s cold rolling capacity will go up from 65,000tn to 146,000tn per annum with the addition of an annealing and pickling line among other facilities as part of the expansion plan. SSP’s expansion plan also has the provision for installation of an additional grinding machine in its hot rolling mill that produces 180,000tn of coils per annum presently. SAIL’s Corporate Plan 2012 envisages dedicated supply of 190,000tn of stainless steel slabs to SSP from Alloy Steels Plant in Durgapur per annum. SSP’s hot rolling mill will therefore be able to process 370,000tn of slabs annually.
