RAIPUR: Operations of the blast furnace at the steel plant operated by the public sector enterprise National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) in Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh, commenced on Saturday, marking a crucial step towards the plant’s operational readiness. The 4,506 cubic metre blast furnace is designed to produce 9,500 tonnes of hot metal (molten metal) per day.
HR coils, sheets, plates and hot metal will be produced by the steel plant that will operate on a zero-discharge concept. The facility houses one of the most energy-efficient and environment-friendly technologies to produce steel, officiating chairman and managing director Amitava Mukherjee said.
Stating that commissioning of the ‘Maa Danteshwari’ blast furnace marks a crucial step towards the steel plant’s operational readiness, NMDC said the operations commenced after the initial loading of 1,700-tonne coke, 985-tonne sinter, 270-tonne iron ore and 245-tonne fluxes.
The iron and steel plant, being built by NMDC, is a 3 million tonne per annum capacity integrated steel plant on 1,800 acres at a sanctioned cost of `23,840 crore. NMDC Iron and Steel Plant was demerged from NMDC to NSL in October 2022.
The first and only steel plant in Bastar, one of the aspirational districts, is expected to commence its production shortly. Several major units are being commissioned sequentially to ensure their interdependence can be established steadily in the Nagarnar steel plant, NMDC officials said.
Experts who understand the political economy of the backward region in south Chhattisgarh stated the commissioning of the greenfield integrated steel plant in Bastar will usher in a major development and bring in positive changes in the tribal-dominated area.
The blast furnace at Nagarnar has been designed and built by TATA Projects Limited along with the technology supplier Danieli Corus BV from the Netherlands with state-of-the-art facilities. NMDC claimed that the products of the Nagarnar plant will meet the country’s growing demands for products in high-grade steel and will contribute significantly towards India becoming self-reliant in the steel sector. There will also be an in-house generation of an 80 MW power plant using waste gas and waste heat. The Nagarnar Steel Plant is a modern 3 MTPA capacity with a compact layout utilising only 1,800 acres of land.
