Steel Plants in India

India is the world's second-largest producer of crude steel, after only China. According to the World Steel Association, it produced 82.68 million tonnes of total finished steel and 9.7 million tonnes of raw iron, accounting for 51% of total global output.

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) was formed in 1973 to oversee the growth of the steel industry.  During the Second Five Year Plan, Bhilai, Durgapur, and Rourkela were established. 

The steel factories in Salem, Vijai Nagar, and Vishakhapatnam were constructed during the Third Five Year Plan, while the steel plants at Bokaro were established during the Fourth Five Year Plan.

In 1991 and 1992, the Indian steel industry was delicensed and decontrolled. 

Mini steel plants and integrated steel plants are the two types of steel plants in India. Medium and small businesses generate almost half of the country's steel.

Today, the iron and steel industry earns the maximum foreign exchange for India.

Basic Facts

• India is the second-largest producer of crude steel in the world. 
• First steel plant in India – Portonova (Tamil Nadu, 1830).
• Largest Steel Plant in India – Bokaro.
• Largest producer of steel in the Private sector in India – Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO).
• Largest steel-producing state in India – Odisha.
• First Large scale iron and steel Company in India – Kulti (West Bengal, 1870;  by Bengal Iron Works).
• First iron and steel industry of Modern India was established in – Jamshedpur (TISCO).
• Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• Established on – August 26, 1907.
• Founder – Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.
• Steel City of India – Jamshedpur.
• First Steel Plant in South India – Visvesvaraya Steel Plant (Karnataka, 1923).
• First public sector integrated steel plant in India – Rourkela (1965).
• First shore-based integrated steel plant in India – Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
• Steel Plants established during the second Five-year plan – Durgapur (1959), Bhilai & Rourkela (1959).
• The Plateau with the maximum concentration of Iron and Steel Plants  – Chotanagar Plateau.
• Most Profitable Steel Plant in India – Bhilai (1959).
• The metal used with iron in the production of steel – Chromium.
• Stainless Steel is an alloy of  – Iron, Chromium & Nickel.
• Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) –
• Headquarters –  New Delhi.
• Established on – January 24, 1973.
• First Chairman – M.A. Wadud Khan. 
• Current Chairman – Soma Mondal.
• Predecessor of SAIL – Hindustan Steel Limited (January 19, 1954).
• 20th Largest Steel Producing Firm in the World – SAIL.
  
• Union Minister for Steel – Ramchandra Prasad Singh.

Hematite (Fe₂O₃) and magnetite (Fe₃O₄) are the most important iron ores in India.

Public Sector Steel Plants Under SAIL

The table below lists all the public sector steel plants under the Steel Authority of India Ltd.

Place	Collaboration with	State	Year
Bhilai	Russia	Chattisgarh	1955
Bokaro	Russia	Jharkhand	1964
Rourkela*	Germany	Odisha (Sundargarh)	1955
Durgapur	Britain	West Bengal	1959
IISCO	Acquired from Pvt. Sector (1976)	West Bengal (Burnpur)	1918
Salem	–	Tamil Nadu	1981
Visvesvaraya	–	Karnataka (Bhadravati)	1923

Code: BhiRUCha (ഭീരുച) , BoRUJha (ബോരുജ) , RaGe O (രാജി ഒ), DuBri B (ഡുബ്രി ബി)

or ഭീരു, ബോരു, രാജി, ഡുബ്രി

*The Rourkela steel plant obtains coking coal from Jharia coalfields and iron ore from Baba Budan hills.

Mission Purvodaya

• Launched in – January 12, 2020.
• Aim – accelerated development of eastern India through the establishment of an integrated steel hub in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• The focus will be on the eastern Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal, as well as the northern section of Andhra Pradesh, which possesses 80 percent of the country's iron ore deposits, 100 percent of coking coal reserves, and a substantial amount of chromite, bauxite, and dolomite reserves.

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📝SideNotes:

• Ruhr of India – Chotanagar Plateau.
• Father of Indian Industry – Jamsetji Tata.
• TISCO is situated on the banks of – Subarnarekha & Kharkai.
• Chhattisgarh – 
• Formed in – November 1, 2000.
• Capital – Raipur.
• was part of Madhya Pradesh.
• Capital of Jharkand – Ranchi.
• First Woman Functional Director & the First Woman Chairperson of SAIL – Soma Mondal.
• World's first fossil-free steel was manufactured in – Sweden (Company: Hybrit, 2021).

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