Angul plant will produce steel plates for defence purposes: Jindal

Bhubaneswar, June 2 (IANS) Jindal Steel and Power's (JSPL) Angul factory, the biggest integrated steel plant in Odisha, will produce various types of steel plates and billets which can be can be used for ship building, tank making and other defence purposes, said JSPL chairman Naveen Jindal on Friday.

The 6 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel-making facility in Angul was made operational on May 27.

"We are making various types of steel plates which are up to 5 metre wide, the widest in the world, and can be used for ship building, tank making and other defence manufacturing, windmill towers making, large construction and in other related industries," said Jindal after meeting Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi here.

The 1.4 MTPA re-bar mill at Angul, which is one of the largest such mills in the world, makes TMT re-bars which are sold under Jindal Panther brand.

The company will also produce billets that can be exported and used in its factory in Jharkhand, informed Jindal.

"After commissioning of Angul steel complex, the steel-making capacity of JSPL has become more than double. This year, we are planning to produce 6 MT of steel in India and more than 1.5 MT in Oman," said Jindal.

"In October, with the commissioning of the basic oxygen furnace, we will be inching closer to reach the break-even for the Angul facility. However, the production front will be more vibrant from July this year. From July itself, we will start doing much better and will start producing two lakh tonne per month at Angul," he added.

JSPL is sourcing most of its iron ore requirement from Odisha. For coal, the company is mostly dependent on imports.

"We are importing 100 per cent of coking coal that we require. A 50 per cent of coal required for power generation is also being imported. We have been requesting the state government to improve raw material availability in the state," he said.