The Ground Breaking ceremony for the 600,000 Tonne per annum Continuous Annealing & Processing Line (CAPL) Project took place today at the Tata Steel Works. This follows the Joint Venture Agreement signed between TSL and NSC in January 2011 to setup India’s first Continuous Annealing and Processing Line (CAPL) for the production of automotive cold-rolled steels at Jamshedpur.

Mr H M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel Limited (TSL); Mr S Higuchi, Managing Director, Flat Products, Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC); Mr Raghunath Pandey, President, Tata Workers’ Union, were present on the occasion along with union office bearers, senior officials and employees from TSL, NSC, Nippon Steel Engineering Corporation and Larsen & Toubro.

This facility will address the growing localisation needs of Indian automotive customers for high-grade cold-rolled steel sheet and contribute to further expansion of the Indian automobile industry.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Nerurkar said, “This project will not only set benchmarks in Product Quality but also in New Product Development and Customer Service.” Reiterating his views, Mr Higuchi said, “I would like to reiterate that safety is of utmost priority in the course of construction and commissioning of this project.”

About Tata Steel
Established in 1907, Tata Steel Group is among the top ten global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of over 27 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It is now one of the world's most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Tata Steel Group, with a turnover of Rs 1,024 billion in FY '10, has over 81,000 employees across five continents and is a Fortune 500 company. The Group’s vision is to be the world’s steel industry benchmark in “Value Creation” and “Corporate Citizenship” through the excellence of its people, its innovative approach and overall conduct. Underpinning this vision is a performance culture committed to aspiration targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement, openness and transparency.