Essar Steel today said it had commissioned a 6 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) pellet making facility in Odisha, which is the first phase of the 12 MMTPA pellet plant to be set up by 2013.
The facility includes a 12 MMTPA iron ore beneficiation plant at Dabuna and a 253 km slurry pipe line connecting Dabuna and Paradip.
It will reduce the operating costs per tonne and improve the cost competitiveness. The slurry pipeline apart from being a cost reduction initiative is also the most environment friendly way of transporting raw material for the pellet plant, the press release said.
The pellet plant in Paradip along with the Visakhapatnam plant's capacity of 8 MMTPA will fully secure the iron ore requirements for Essar Steel in India, it said.
Dilip Oommen, MD & CEO, Essar Steel said: “This will secure a sustainable raw material source at the right cost and we have ensured that the safety and environmental aspects are given due importance in the design, construction and operations of the plant.”
The Paradip pellet plant is the second significant milestone for Essar Steel this year after it announced the expansion of steel capacity to 10 MMTPA at Hazira, Gujarat.
Once the 12 MMTPA Paradip facility is completed, along with pellet capacity of 8 MMTPA at Visakhapatnam, Essar Steel will have a total pellet making capacity of 20 MMTPA making it the largest pellet producer in the country.
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