JSW Steel is considering setting up a blast furnace at Ispat Industries'
facility in Maharashtra as a long-term measure against an irregular supply of
gas.
JSW Steel took over the operations of Ispat Industries on 20 December 2010.
Ispat has a 1.6 million tpa sponge iron plant at Dolvi, Raigad. The gas-based
direct reduced iron plant was sourcing close to one mmscmd of gas from GAIL and
Reliance Industries (RIL).
RIL recently cut down its supply of gas to steel companies down to 20 per
cent after an order by the Union Ministry of Petroleum asked the company to
reduce the supply of gas from its KG D6 field to non-core sectors. With the
proposed blast furnace, JSW can use coking coal instead of natural gas to make
sponge iron.