Tata Steel's long-term strategy takes into account the challenges faced by the Company and the opportunities it needs to leverage for value creation.

Brownfield expansion

Ramp up of the 'I' Blast Furnace:

Figure 1

The 2.9 mtpa brownfield expansion is the largest ever expansion undertaken at the Jamshedpur Works, taking the capacity of the Jamshedpur facilities to 9.7 mtpa.

The expansion project involved setting up of facilities, including a 3.05 mtpa capacity 'I' Blast Furnace, a 2.4 mtpa Thin Slab Casting and Rolling Facility (TSCR), two Coke Oven batteries each with a capacity of 0.7 mtpa, a 6 mtpa Pellet plant, a Linz-Donawitz (LD) Basic Oxygen converter and a Lime Calcining plant.

The 'I' Blast Furnace achieved rated capacity in 24 days with 94% availability in the first month. The furnace is currently producing at 9,000 tonnes per day (tpd) corresponding to 3.15 million tonnes annualised with a headcount of 115 employees making it one of the most productive plants in the world. The performance of the earlier 'H' Blast Furnace has been bettered by 'I' Blast Furnace on all counts (Figure 1).

The monthly production at TSCR in Financial Year 2012-13:

Figure 2

LD3 TSCR is the third steel melting shop at the Jamshedpur works and the second dedicated to Flat Products. A unique feature of this steel melting shop is that it integrates a Thin Slab Caster and a Rolling mill (a new energy efficient 'Compact Strip Processing' technology) with the upstream LD3 steel making facility. The first strand was commissioned in February 2012 and the two strand operations started working simultaneously from the beginning of December 2012.

In Financial Year 2012-13, the TSCR plant achieved 1 million tonnes of slab production, registering higher yield and producing higher value products (Figure 2).

The 6 mtpa Pellet Plant will enable the Company to use extra-fine iron ore as the feed after beneficiation rather than scarce lumps, resulting in improved Blast Furnace productivity, due to increased percentage of agglomerate in the Blast Furnace burden. As mineral resources are scarce and exhaustible, the Company is continuously working to increase the life of its existing mines by improving productivity and enhancing its capabilities to mine and process inferior ores.

Brownfield expansion "I" Blast furnace, Jamshedpur, India

The increase in capacity without the proportionate increase in manpower is set to improve labour productivity on a per tonne basis. The raw material capacity augmentation in the mines, ensured that the additional production was integrated with iron ore, eliminating the possibility of relying on external sources in an already constrained iron ore market, following closure of mines in India's mineral rich states.

Greenfield project

Greenfield project – Kiln 2, Odisha, India

Tata Steel's greenfield project in Odisha is currently under construction. The first phase is likely to go into production by the end of the Financial Year 2014-15.

Significant orders have been placed for the Phase I of the project and the concreting and structural work at the site is progressing at a brisk pace.

Setting up the project will benefit the further development of the local community and society. A training centre has been set up for up-skilling some of the people in the local community. A large local community has also evolved into successful entrepreneurs assisting others by providing gainful employment. Women are empowered through self help groups set up by the Company, enabling them to earn a living.

Designed to deliver value added steel for different applications, the project will enable development of a wider range of products for the Company that can cater to advanced applications.