Visakhapatnam Steel Plant

Pylon at Vizag Steel Plant

On 17 April 1970, the Prime Minister of India, the Indira Gandhi, announced the government's decision to establish a steel plant at Visakhapatnam. With the offer of assistance from the government of the erstwhile USSR, a revised project evolved some years later. A detailed project report for a plant with a capacity of 3.4 Mtpa was prepared in November 1980 and in February 1981, a contract was signed with the USSR for the preparation of working drawings of coke ovens, blast furnace and sinter plant. The blast furnace foundation was laid, with first mass concreting, in January 1982. The construction of the local township was also started at the same time.[2]

In the 1970s, Kurupam Zamindars donated 6,000 acres of land for Vizag Steel Plant. A new company Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) was formed on 18 February 1982. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was separated from SAIL and RINL was made the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in April 1982.[3]

Vizag Steel Plant is the only Indian shore-based steel plant and is situated on 33,000 acres (13,000 ha), and is poised to expand to produce up to 20 MT in a single campus. Turnover in 2011-2012 was Rs 14,457 crores.[3] On 20 May 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the expansion project of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant from a capacity of 3.6 MT to 6.3 MT at a cost of Rs. 8,692 crores. But the investment was revised to 14,489 crores with the following classification:

• Expenditure for the financial year 2009-10 Rs 1840 crores.
• Rs 5883 crores since inception of the project.
• Total commitment, including enabling works, steel procurement, consultancy, spares, etc. is Rs 11591 crores as of 25 March 2010.

The expansion project is expected to become functional by 2012.[3] Currently, the steel plant has completed the expansion from 3.6 MT to 6.3 MT with a total investment of Rs.12,300 crore. The company has planned to expand its production capacity further by one more MT which requires an investment of Rs.4,500 crore.[4]

• Coke Ovens and Coal Chemical Plant
• Sinter plant
• Blast furnace
• Calcining and Refractory Material Plant
• Steel Melt Shop and Continuous Casting
• Light and Medium Merchant Mill
• Medium Merchant and Structural Mill
• Wire rod mill
• Steel melt shop
• THERMAL power plant

Battery

Panorama view of Vizag Steel plant

The prepared coal charge in the coal tower is drawn by a charging car on the top of the batteries and charged into the ovens as per sequence. The charged coal is gradually heated by the heating wall of the oven in the absence of air to attain a temperature of 1000°-1050 °C at the central axis of the coke mass toward the end of coking period. the coking period is generally specified between 16 hrs and 19 hrs depending on oven condition and production requirement. the volatile matter of coal liberated during carbonization is collected in gas collecting mains in the form of raw coke oven gas passing through stand pipes and direct contact cooling with ammonia liquor spray. The gas cooled from 800 °C is drawn to coal chemical plant by exhauster. The residual coke is pushed out of the oven by pusher car through a guide into coke bucket. The red-hot coke is taken to coke dry cooling plant for cooling. There are 4 batteries, each having 67 ovens each. Each oven can hold 32 tons of dry coal charge. The volumetric capacity of each oven is 41.6 cum the heat for carbonation is supplied by under firing of coke oven gas having CV of 4200 Kcal/Nm3 of mixture of BF gas & CO gas having 900 Kcal/Nm3. The heating system of batteries is of under jet, compound type having twin-heating flues with re-circulation of waste gases.

• On 13 June 2012, 19 people died during a trial run of recently commissioned oxygen plant, due to a massive explosion in the plant.[5] Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma visited and announced ₹20 lakh (US$28,000) Ex gratia to each person.
• In June 2014, two engineers were fatally injured in a suspected case of Carbon monoxide poisoning.[6]
• On 7 Nov 2014, a minor explosion occurred in the Blast Furnace II but there were no casualties.[7]
• In February 2015, an assistant general manager was involved in a fatal accident when he fell into a rotating drum.[8]
• On 18 January 2019, a hot metal pipe was exploded in Blast furnace number 3. There were no casualties.[9]

The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Township (VSPT), also known as Ukkunagaram (lit. 'Steel City') was developed on 8000 acres of land, providing housing and accommodations for many of the employees. The township has 8200 dwellings spread over 12 sectors and 3900 acres, as well as a green belt of 4260 acres. The town also has multiple temples,churches,a Mosque,gurudwara, athletic facilities, hospital, police station, post office, shopping malls, schools, indoor and outdoor stadiums. Some of the most famous temples include the Shivalayam, Goddess Kali temple, Venkateshwara temple, Shirdi Baba temple, Puri Jagannadh temple, Tri-Shakti temple, Ayyapa temple, and the Sathya Sai Baba Mandir. Besides, there are marriage halls and clubs for conducting various activities for entertainment such as screening of movies, hosting parties, felicitating people and celebrating festivals.

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• Official website