NINL resumes blast furnace operations in Kalinga Nagar

In a bid to shore up its sagging bottom-line, public-sector steel maker Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) has lined up a string of measures for this financial year.The state-run unit has resumed its blast furnace operations at Kalinga Nagar in Odisha after completing capital repair work and has immediate plans to regain steel billet production after restarting the steel melting shop (SMS) in full capacity. Further, with the operationalisation of the 110 million tonne captive mines at Koira after it gets the final Stage-II forest clearance, NINL will have the potential of becoming one of the leading producers of steel in the State. Mr SS Mohanty, vice-chairman & managing director, NINL said “Along with the ion of pig iron and improved hot metal production, NINL plans to resume steel billet production after restarting the steel melting shop in full capacity, which will impact the company’s bottom-line.” The blowdown process of the blast furnace began on November 26 and subsequently, the capital repair work beg?an from November 30. NINL aims to operate the blast furnace at 100 per cent capacity, higher than 50-55 per cent earlier. The company has set a daily production target of 3,500 tonnes per day.