The facilities and the function held to mark its commissioning

Tata Steel has for many years made sustainability and enviornment management the cornerstone of its business vision and mission. Therefore, its constant quest to act for the environment and for sutainability, drives it to seek greater efficiencies in its business processes. Its endeavour, as is the case with all Tata companies, is to ensure that its footprint on the Earth is as small as possible.

Tata Steel’s search for energy conservation and more environmentally friendly processes led to the commissioning of a facility for the recovery of waste-gas heat from its ‘G’ blast furnace. This facility will improve its energy efficiency and reduce emissions. At the same time it will also reduce consumption of fuel and coke in the blast furnace and increase energy production.

Mrs Binoo Sen with Mr H Nerurkar at the NEDO project site

Part of the Japanese Government’s “Green Aid Plan” to support Asian countries to save energy and protect the environment, the project was taken up with the assistance of New Energy and Industrial Technological Development Organisation (NEDO), a wing of the Government of Japan. NEDO also contributed a large share of the cost of the project.

Mrs Binoo Sen

The facility was inaugurated by Mrs Binoo Sen, Secretary, Union Steel Ministry on January 27, 2004. “Only 50-60 per cent of solid wastes from steel plants are being utilized and I understand this can go up,” she averred, while commending Tata Steel for becoming the first steel plant in the country for implementing such a project. The NEDO Project was completed by Tata Steel 11 months ahead of the stipulated schedule.

“Our mission is to become a leader in steel manufacturing in the country and for that we have to make constant improvements,” the Managing Director, Mr B Muthuraman observed at the commissioning of the facility. Also present were Mr T. Kitamaru of NEDO, Dr T Mukherjee, Dy Managing Director (Steel) of the company and Mr R B B Singh, President, Tata Workers’ Union.