IRON & STEEL INDUSTRY

India Iron Steel Industry

Iron and Steel Industries

The first unit, which was able to produce pig iron successfully, in India came up at Kulti in 1874 and was named Bengal Iron Work Company. Another plant came up at Sakchi (now Jamshedpur) in 1907, set up by the Tatas and called the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO). In 1919the Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) plant was set up at Burnpur. In 1923, another plant came up, called the Mysore Steel Works (later named the Visveshwaraiya Iron and steel Limited – VISL)

Located near the sources of raw materials and fuel (coal).

In Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Durgapur, Burnpur (W.B.), Bhadravati (Karnataka), Bokaro (Jharkhand), Rourkela (Orissa), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Salem (T.N.), Vishakhapatnam (A.P.).

In Khetri, Alwar, Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan), Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Agnigundala (A.P.).

India And Steel Industries In India

Tata Iron And steel Co.( first Iron n Steel Plant, oldest in country,) Location: Jamshedpur( Jharkhand), on the Subarnarekha river Raw Materials 1.Iron-ore : Singhbhum (Noamandi mines- Jharkhand), Mayurbhanj (Gurumahisani mines-Orissa) 2.Coal: Jharia (Jharkhand) 3. Limestone: Singhbhum (Jharkhand) 4.Manganese: Noamundi 5.water; River of Subarnarekha

Bhilai Steel Plant ( with Russian Collaboration), also known as ‘Pulsating Giant” Location: Durg (Chhattisgarh) Raw Materials 1.Iron-ore : Durg, Chandrapur, Bastar 2.Coal: Korba, Jharia, Raniganj 3. Limestone: Nandini quarries 4.Manganese: Balaghat 5.Water: Tendula Track tank

Durgapur Steel Plant (with British Collaboration) Location: Burdwan ( West Bengal ) Raw Materials 1.Iron-ore : Singhbhum ( Jharkhand), Keonjhar (Orissa) 2.Coal: Raniganj, Jharia 3. Limestone: Birmitrapur 4.Manganese: Barbil (Orissa), Balaghat ( M.P) 5.Water: River Damodar

Rourkela Steel Plant (with German Collaboration) Location: Sundargarh( Orissa) Raw Materials 1.Iron-ore :Bonaigarh , Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar 2.Coal: Raniganj, Jharia, Talcher and Korba 3. Limestone: Birmitrapur, Hirri 4.Manganese: Noamundi 5.Water:river Brahmadi

Bokaro Steel Plant ( with Russian Collaboration) Location: on the right bank of River Damodar, near the confluence of rivers Damodar & Bokaro (Jharkhand) Raw Materials 1.Iron-ore :Bonaigarh, Noamundi 2.Coal: Bokaro, Jharia 3. Limestone: Palamau 4.Manganese: Noamundi 5.Water: River Damodar

Visveshwaraiya Iron and Steel Plant Location: on left bank of River Bhadra at Bhadravati ( Karnataka ) Raw Materials 1.Iron-ore : Babubudan Hills 2. Limestone: Bandigudda No coal used. Uses hydro-electric power

Indian iron and steel Company Location: Burnpur , near Asansol ( West Bengal ) Raw Materials 1.Iron-ore : Singhbhum ( Jharkhand), Mayurbhanj 2.Coal: Raniganj, Jharia 3. Limestone: Gangapur (Orissa) 4.Manganese: Balaghat ( M.P) 5.Water: River Damodar

Copper Smelting Industry

In Khetri, Alwar, Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan), Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Agnigundala (A.P.).

· Indian copper Corporation (ICC) was set up with concentration plant and smelter erected which produced copper at Ghatshila in Bihar. In 1972, the ICC was taken by Hindustan Copper Limited ( HCL) and now HCL is the sole producer of primary copper in the country.

Aluminium Smelting in India

Located mainly near the sources of raw materials, means of transport and cheap electricity. In Hirakud, Koraput (Orissa), Renukoot (UP), Korba (MP), Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), Mettur (TN), Alwaye

· Indian Aluminium Company Limited (INDAL) is an integrated plant having three units at different places for the production of aluminium, reduction of alumina into aluminium and fabrication of aluminium ingots into sheets.

o Aluminium is excreted from bauxite at Muri in Bihar.

o The reduction plant of Alumina is located at Alupuram in Kerala.

o The fabrication plant at Belur manufactures aluminium sheets

· Hindustan Aluminium Corporation Limited (HINDALCO): located at Renukoot near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.

HINDALCO Industries World largest Aluminium manufacturing Company and is a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group. It is run by one of the world's youngest billionaires, Mr. K.M. Birla.(chairman) Financial information The company has annual sales of $ 5 billion and employs 13,675 people and is listed on Forbes 2000. A metals powerhouse with a turnover of US$ 14 billion, Hindalco is the world's largest aluminium rolling company and one of the biggest producers of primary aluminium in Asia. Novelis takeover On February 11, 2007, the company entered into an agreement to acquire the Canadian company Novelis for U$6 billion, making the combined entity the world's largest rolled-aluminium producer. On May 15, 2007, the acquisition was completed with Novelis shareholders receiving $44.93 per outstanding share of common stock. Hindalco, through its wholly-owned subsidiary AV Metals Inc., acquired 75,415,536 common shares of Novelis, representing 100 percent of the issued and outstanding common shares. Immediately after closing, AV Metals Inc. transferred the common shares of Novelis to its wholly-owned subsidiary AV Aluminum Inc. Other acquisitions and takeovers In July 2007, Hindalco announced it is acquiring the stake of Alcan Inc.'s in the Utkal Alumina Project located in Orissa. In June 2000, acquisition of controlling stake in Indian Aluminium Company Limited (Indal) with 74.6 per cent equity holding. Forbes ranking Hindalco is listed on the Forbes Global 2000 at the position 1821.

· Bharat Aluminium Company ( BALCO) : has set up two units at Korba and Ratnagiri to utilize bauxite ores of Amarkantak( M.P.) & Udaigiri- Dhangarvadi region(Maharashtra)

· National Aluminium Company(NALCO) : A huge public sector aluminium company, the NALCO was set up with assistance from French Company At Damnjodi near Jeypore (Koraput district in Orissa)

· Madras Aluminium Company ( MALCO) of Mettur and Aluminium Corporation of India at Jayakanagar( near Asansol, West Bengal)

· Lead 7 Zinc Smelting Industry (India) : in India the main source of lead and zinc ores is the Zawar deposits of Rajasthan. The mines under production other than Zawar Mines are Agnigundla Lead mines (A.P), Rajpura- Dariba Mines ( Udaipur), Rajasthan and Sargipalli mines lead in Orissa. two smelters are under production : Debari Zinc smelters (Udaipur) & Vizag lead Smelters plant ( Visakhapatnam) . The Debari plant was erected by Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (HZL) with technical assistance from Krebspenarroya of France and Lurgi of Germany.

· India is the fifth largest producer of steel in the world. India Steel Industry has grown by leaps and bounds, especially in recent times with Indian firms buying steel companies overseas. The scope for steel industry is huge and industry estimates indicate that the industry will continue will to grow reasonably in the coming years with huge demands for stainless steel in the construction of new airports and metro rail projects. The government is planning a massive enhancement of the steel production capacity of India with the modernization of the existing steel plants.

Industry Statistics



Government targets to increase the production capacity from 56 million tons annually to 124 MT in the first phase which will come to an end by 2011 - 12. Currently with a production of 56 million tones India accounts for over 7% of the total steel produced globally, while it accounts to about 5% of global steel consumption. The steel sector in India grew by 5.3% in May 2009. Globally India is the only country to post a positive overall growth in the production of crude steel at 1.01% for the period of January - March in 2009.

Export



About 50% of the steel produced in India is exported. India's export of steel during April - December 2008 was 64.4 MT as against 9.7 MT in December 2007. In February 2009, steel export increased by 17% to 12.6 MT from 10.8 MT in the same month last year. More than 50% of steel from India is exported to China. The Government's decision to reduce export duty on iron ore lumps from 15% to 5% has given a major boost to the export of steel.



Hurdles



Power shortage hampers the production of steel

Use of outdated process for production

Lags behind in the production of stainless steel

Deficiency of raw materials required by the industry

Labor productivity is low. It is 144 tons per worker per year against 600 tons in Western Europe as per estimates inadequate shipment capacity and transport structure



Strengths



There are many strong points of the industry that makes it one of the leading names in the global steel industry. The rate of labor wage in India is among one of the lowest in the world thereby making large scale production feasible. The boom witnessed in the automobile industry has ensured that the demand for steel is increasing gradually and will continue to do so in the near future. There is huge manpower in India which is another reason why steel production in India is high and the industry is doing pretty well both nationally and internationally.



Investments



numerous steel companies some major projects in the pipeline to invest in India Steel industry. Steel companies have earmarked more than 100 million USD for the setting up of sponge iron units in Koppal and Bellary in Karnataka. As per Investment Commission of India more than 30 billion USD are in the pipeline for investment over the next five years.

Aluminium Smelting in India

Located mainly near the sources of raw materials, means of transport and cheap electricity. In Hirakud, Koraput (Orissa), Renukoot (UP), Korba (MP), Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), Mettur (TN), Alwaye

Copper Smelting Industry

In Khetri, Alwar, Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan), Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Agnigundala (A.P.).