Galvanized rails are likely to be a huge demand area for steel majors in India, going forward. In fact, sources inform SteelMint that Indian Railways is likely to require 2 lakh tonnes per annum of the material in the coming years. In fact, sources informed that two leading producers of rail tracks in India, the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), could be in the fray to bag the orders.
Benefits Of Galvanisation
Zinc has anti-corrosive properties which increase the longevity of the tracks. The life of a track is generally 12 years. But, in the most corrosive of circumstances, the tracks last for at best two-and-a-half to four years, which is a big loss to the nation.
There are two aspects to a rail tack– the rail top and the rail flange or bottom. The top portion generally has a long life, ranging from 12-14 years. On the other hand, if the bottom flange remains submerged for long, especially in corrosive water, or water with a high alkaline content, the damage happens faster and the rails will have to be replaced. Apart from alkaline water, there are salt marsh areas in India along the coastline, where galvanized rails would be an ideal option.
Opportunities
Since India has a vast coastline of around 7,800 km and an arterial rail network as well, there is a scope of a huge business for galvanized rails. Though an exact figure cannot be arrived at yet, sources informed SteelMint that there is an opportunity for supplying 2 lakh tonnes per annum of galvanized rails to IR.
JSPL, which already has rail orders to its credit, sensing big opportunities in the galvanized rails space, is in discussion with the International Zinc Association (IZA) which is helping it to move ahead on this project with the right technology. “Galvanised rails are a new concept in India although this has been implemented in many advanced countries. The technology will be basically about how to galvanize the rails,” informed a source in JSPL. “IZA will be our advisors. We will develop the technology and transfer it on to Indian Railways,” the source added.
It is expected that Indian Railways will float separate orders for these galvanized rails once the technology is ready. The JSPL source emphasized that orders are not an issue here but that JSPL needs to first put in place the right technology.
“The order is a ‘need’. The Indian government needs such rails. And IR will place the orders,” another source said, adding that, “Today there are only two suppliers of rails in the country. One is SAIL and the other is JSPL. So, only these two players will be able to bag the orders, or whosoever comes first. SAIL may get a bigger chunk of the order.” At present, none of the two players has a galvanized rail technology or facility in place. As per IZA sources, there is already an order of 2,000 tonnes of galvanized rails placed to SAIL from IR but the PSU steel behemoth does not yet have the technology or facility to produce these specialized tracks.
However, if JSPL is able to put the technology and facility in place faster then it obviously has a better chance of getting the early benefit. The source said: “JSPL is thus developing the technology and for which we are in discussions with various consultancies. One is IZA and others are equipment suppliers in Europe.”
And by the time, the orders are floated JSPL would likely have its technology in place. It seems JSPL would have a separate galvanizing unit set up but within the same campus.
In fact, it is learnt that first the technology has to be in place, and the orders will start flowing in subsequently. JSPL will first need to put up the unit. Then railway authorities will inspect it. If there are shortcomings in the facility the steel major will have to correct those. If the product does not qualify then it will have to improve the technology, again get it okayed before starting commercial production, with the entire process rolling out over one year or a little more.
However, sources clarified that special tracks such as galvanized rails always have to be approved by the Research Design & Standards Organization (RDSO), an ISO 9001 research and development organization under the Ministry of Railways.
~By Madhumita Mookerji
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