New Delhi | August 30, 2016: A central green panel has given environment clearance to Steel Authority of India Ltd's (SAIL) Rs 5,419-crore expansion and modernisation project for its Rourkela plant in Odisha.

SAIL has proposed modernisation of its Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) by setting up a new hot strip mill with a production capacity of 3 million tonnes a year (MTPA), beneficiation plant of 3.3 MTPA and pellet plant of 2 MTPA.

It also seeks to enhance production capacity of special plates from 0.003 to 0.015 MTPA within the premise of RSP.

SAIL's proposal was examined in the recent meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) under the Environment Ministry.

"The EAC has recommended the ministry to grant environment clearance to the SAIL's proposed modernisation project in Rourkela subject to stipulation of specific conditions," a senior government official said.

The ore for the new plants would be procured from captive mines at Kiriburu, Meghahatuburu, Bolani, Barsua and Gua in Odisha.

Among specific conditions, the EAC has suggested that the company should install 24x7 air monitoring devices to control air emissions and vehicular pollution due to transportation of raw material and finished product.

SAIL has been asked to ensure green belt cover over 33 per cent of the total project area developed within plant premises. It has also been asked to make provision for temporary housing structures for construction labour within the site with all necessary infrastructure and facilities.

At present, RSP has 4.5 MTPA production capacity of hot metal and 4.2 MTPA of crude steel. It is SAIL's only plant that produce silicon steel for the power sector and high quality pipes for the oil and gas sector.

SAIL produces iron and steel at five integrated plants and three special steel plants, located in the eastern and central regions.

(Source: http://www.business-standard.com/)