Seven steel projects to kick off by January

Seven steel projects, under various stages of implementation, are expected to be ready by January 2007, a PIB release said.

The first project - the repair of blast furnace No.4 of the Rourkela Steel Plant - is expected to be completed by October this year. The project cost of this plant has gone up over 20 per cent from Rs 95.64 crore to Rs 118.32 crore. Apart from the aforesaid estimated project cost, expenses of over Rs 73 crore have already been incurred, the release said.

Next, rebuilding of the coke oven battery No.1 of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) also at the Rourkela Plant is projected to be completed by March 2006 - a delay of just three months - with a cost of Rs 112.39 crore. Expenses of approximately Rs 42 crore have already been incurred on the project.

The third project, also of SAIL, the installation of the bloom caster with associated facilities at the Durgapur Steel Plant in West Bengal is expected to be ready by May 2006, as scheduled, at an original cost of Rs 271.41 crore. Over Rs 35 crore has already been spent on the project.

The commissioning of technology upgrade of blast furnace No.7 at SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant, in Chhatisgarh, has been delayed by six months to July 2006. The original cost of this project was Rs 107.41 crore, which would go up to Rs 170.41 crore because of delay in implementation. Approximately Rs 15 lakh has already been spent on it.

The rebuilding of coke oven battery-5 at SAIL's Bokaro, Jharkhand, approved in December 2004 with a original cost of Rs 219.04 crore, is expected to be commissioned as scheduled in January 2007. The project cost is expected to decline to Rs 198.84 crore due to timeliness.

Another rebuilding project - of coke oven battery-5 - of SAIL at Bhilai, Chhatisgarh, at a cost of Rs 198.84 crore is also expected to be ready by January next year. The anticipated cost of the project now stands Rs 219.04 crore, with nearly Rs 3 crore already used.

The coke oven battery-4 (phase -1) of the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Vishakapatnam, at an estimated cost of Rs 303 crore, is expected to be ready as scheduled in December this year.

While expenditure of nearly Rs 85 crore has already been incurred on the project, its original cost stands revised downwards to Rs 286.83 crore.