The first furnace of Rourkela Steel Plant began functioning in 1959 setting the foundation for building India’s economic development. Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) today is a Maharatna company and the largest steel producer and also the highest iron ore miner in India. Steel is a deregulated sector and SAIL operates in open economy producing 21.4 Million Tonne Steel per annum and contributing 1.5 times of India’s GDP and 6.8 times to employment generation.A function was held in New Delhi today to commemorate the 60th year of steel production by SAIL. The function was addressed by Union Minister of Steel, Chaudhary Birender Singh, Minister of State for Steel, Vishnu Deo Sai, Secretary Steel, Binoy Kumar and Chairman SAIL, Anil Kumar Chaudhary. Top officials of Ministry of Railways and other Central Government departments were also present on this occasion.Chaudhary Birender Singh said times are changing and SAIL must keep pace with the new and fast growing steel companies. He outlined four mantras for SAIL: Speed, Aggression, Innovation and Loyalty. The Minister said decisions, actions and projects need more speed and marketing. He said new areas and markets like North-East need to be explored and technology, thinking and working has to be innovative. The Minister further stated that all this will happen only if those associated with SAIL have loyalty and commitment towards the company and country.
The Minister exhorted SAIL to invest in Research and Development, technology development and production of high-grade, value-added steel as these are the priorities of the Government and SAIL has a crucial role to play in all these areas.National Steel Policy 2017 has set ambitious target of 300 MT steel capacity by 2030-31 and SAIL with 1/6th of the proposed capacity is going to be a key contributor. However, all this must be done in a systematic and planned way. Each Plant and Unit has to adopt the culture of ‘Safety First’. Stressing that the culture of safety has to be an integral part of our working, Chaudhary Birender Singh said the Ministry will observe one day of the year as Safety Day for the steel sector from 2019.Minister of State for Steel, Vishnu Deo Sai expressed hope that with its continued hard work, SAIL will be able to fulfill the right expectations of the country in future too. Secretary Steel, Binoy Kumar, said that SAIL has to always rethink its strategy and planning to remain a leader in the steel sector.Steel produced by SAIL is used for railway tracks, defence grade steel for construction of Arjun battle tank and India’s space programme of Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan also use SAIL steel. SAIL supplied around 35400 metric tonnes of steel for the construction of recently inaugurated India’s longest bridge - Bogibeel Road-cum-Rail Bridge on the river Brahmaputra. This quantity is little more than 50% of the total quantity of steel supplied for the bridge.SAIL supplied TMT rebars, plates and structural for this 4.94 KM long bridge, which has composite welded steel truss girders in its structures. Earlier, SAIL had supplied 90% steel for the construction of the Dhola-Sadiya bridge. SAIL’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities supports education sports and tribal population of 8 states.