“TODAY ONE COULD BE VERY PROUD OF THE LEVEL THE BLAST FURNACE HAS REACHED”

-Mr. HM Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel

Tata Steel, world’s 7th largest steel maker today announced completion of 100 years of its A-F Blast Furnace's existence. It was on 10th December 1911 that the plant at Jamshedpur became active when the Blast Furnace was blown for the first time.

The iron making process in India took a new shape with the blowing of the first Blast Furnace, ‘A’ Blast Furnace, at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur. The journey continued as the company came up with the ‘B’ Blast Furnace in 1912, ‘E’ Blast furnace in 1919 followed by the ‘C’ and ‘D’ Blast Furnaces in the later years. ‘F’ Blast Furnace was commissioned in the year 1958 and remained the company’s largest furnace till the commissioning of ‘G’ Blast Furnace in the year 1992.

In this long and eventful journey, the ‘G’ Blast Furnace was rebuilt in the year 2005 and its capacity was increased from 1 MTPA to 1.8 MTPA. Recently in the year 2008, the ‘H’ Blast Furnace was commissioned with a capacity of 2.5MTPA. Tata Steel hopes that in the coming years its Blast Furnace operations will see new heights. With improvement in technology and raw material quality, the Blast Furnaces are expected to achieve such operational excellence.

The company is proud to announce that within a few months from now, after the commissioning of ‘I’ Blast Furnace, Jamshedpur Works will become a 10 MTPA Steel Plant. To celebrate this historic occasion, all present and past Iron Makers of Tata Steel who were associated with the Blast Furnaces operations, assembled at A-F Blast Furnaces department.

While addressing the gathering, honourable chief guest Mr HM Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel said, “This is indeed a momentous occasion for all the employees of Tata Steel, however, the bigger challenge that lies in front of us is to equip ourselves with a better method of using our raw materials, considering the volume and the cost. I am sure that with the advanced use of technology and a committed workforce, we are empowered to solve such challenges that lie ahead. ” In a similar line, guest of honour, Mr Raghunath Pandey, President, Tata Worker’s Union stated, “the hundred year celebration also marks the hundred years of healthy relationship that the Company Management has nurtured with its Union. It’s only on the basis of a committed workforce that the company could achieve so magnanimously.”

Dignitaries and many senior officials of the Company, Office Bearers of TWU, Union Committee Members and other employees of Coke, Sinter and Iron Division were also present to grace the occasion.