The blast furnace operations at the NMDC Steel plant in Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh commenced on Saturday, marking a crucial step towards the plant’s operational readiness.
Chairman and Managing Director (additional charge) Amitava Mukherjee along with members of the senior management of NMDC and NMDC Steel (NSL), participated in the commissioning, NMDC said in a release on Monday.
The 4,506 cubic meter blast furnace is designed to produce 9,500 tonnes of hot metal (molten metal) per day. The steel plant will produce HR coils, sheets, plates and hot metal that will operate on a zero-discharge concept. The facility houses one of the most energy-efficient and environment-friendly technologies to produce steel, Mr 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.
Mr Mukherjee appreciated the collective efforts put in by NSL, MECON and the support extended by SAIL, RINL, JSW, JSPL and all stakeholders in achieving the milestone. The furnace has been designed and built by Tata Projects along with technology supplier Danieli Corus BV from The Netherlands.
