SAIL has commissioned a new sinter plant at its Bhilai integrated steel expansion project in Durg district of Chhattisgarh.

The unit, with 3.708 million tpa sinter capacity, was commissioned with an investment of Rs 730 crore. The company has conducted hot trials of the new sinter facility. This unit will meet the requirement of a new blast furnace coming up at the plant, in addition to meeting the need of the existing furnaces.

At Bhilai, SAIL is expanding the capacity of its project from five million tpa to 7.5 million tpa. The project entails an investment of Rs 17,910 crore. It is part of the total outlay of Rs 72,000 crore for the modernisation and expansion plan of the company's hot metal capacity from 14.23 million tpa to 23.46 million tpa.

Apart from the sinter machine, the expansion project includes a new blast furnace, a coke oven battery, a steel melting shop, a universal rail mill, and a bar and rod mill.

Next in line for commissioning at the Bhilai plant is the new seven mtr tall coke oven battery (No. 11), which is likely to be followed by a new 4,060 cu mtr blast furnace (No. 8) that is designed to produce 8,000 tonne of hot metal per day.

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