Nagarnar Steel Plant

NMDC Ltd., as part of its expansion, value addition and forward integration programme is setting up a 3 MTPA capacity greenfield Integrated Steel Plant in Nagarnar, located 16 km from Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh state with an estimated outlay of Rs 20000 crore.^[1]

The foundation stone for the project was laid on 3 September 2008.^[2] The land for the plant has already been acquired as of August 2010 and, as of December 2013, 16 major packages of the steel plant have already been awarded at a cost of around Rs.14,000 crore.^[3]

The project is based on HiSmelt technology and NMDC expects to commission the plant in three years once construction commences, as against the six years required in conventional plants.

NMDC is planning to set up 15 MTPA pipe line for evacuation of iron ore from Bailadila Sector to Visakhapatnam at Nagarnar to cater to the iron ore needs of the proposed steel plant.^[4] The company is expecting commercial production of its 3 MTPA capacity proposed steel plant in Chhattisgarh to commence by the middle of 2017. The plant is expected to be ready by December 2016 and trial of same will start by December 2016.The Union Steel & Mines Ministry has plans of doubling installed capacity of NMDC Ltd’s proposed 3 MTPA integrated steel plant coming up at Nagarnar in Bastar district in Chhattisgarh in due course once the plant is commissioned.

In order to increase the domestic capacity of steel production, a concept of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been introduced, officials stated. Two MoUs have already been signed by the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand for setting up Greenfield steel plants with initial capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) each, to be later enhanced to 6 MTPA. More than Rs 70,000 crore will be invested for setting up of these steel plants. Notably, India was the only country among the major steel producing nations of the world which recorded a positive trend in steel production and consumption in 2015, officials stated.The first 11 months of 2015, steel production vis a vis 2014, India showed a growth of 2.8%, and world steel production registered decrease of 2.8%. India’s steel production capacity has increased by 6% in 2015 and consumption has increased by around 5%.

Notably, the work for setting up 'power plant distribution system' for NMDC's proposed 3 MTPA steel plant of the company has also started gathering pace at Nagarnar.The work for High and Low Tension Power and control cable laying and termination besides other identified works would also soon commence at the site, officials stated.The company has also commenced the process of setting up 2 MTPA Pellet Plant at Nagarnar in Bastar division of Chhattisgarh.The Site levelling works for the Pellet Plant as Nagarnar will soon be taken up, officials informed.Notably, a marathon ‘Slurry Pipeline Transportation System’ has been proposed for transportation of Pellet Feed Concentrate from Bailadila to Vizag via Jagdalpur along National and State Highways with a provision of partial off-take at NMDC Ltd’s proposed steel plant coming up at Nagarnar.

The concentrate is intended for making pellets required for feeding to NMDC's Steel Plant at Nagarnar, officials stated.For part of this project, investment proposals involving 2 MTPA Ore Processing Plant at Bacheli, 15 MTPA Slurry Pipeline system from Bacheli to Nagarnar and 2 MTPA Pellet Plant at Nagarnar has been approved by the NMDC Board of Directors, they stated.Other pre-project activities such as detailed route survey, Environmental clearance, Forest clearance crossing permission from Railways and National Highway Authorities, MoU with Chhattisgarh Government for sanction of utilities (Water and Electrical power) have also been taken up and are in progress, officials stated.It may be recalled that NMDC has already commenced the process of building necessary infrastructure for its proposed 3.0 MTPA steel plant coming up at Nagarnar.

Location^[5]

The plant site is around 16 km from Jagdalpur and 6 km from the Orissa–Chattishgarh border. The nearest railway station is Amaguda (around 2 km). The site is located on National Highway NH 43. The nearest airport is at Jagdalpur, Raipur & Vishakhapatnam and the nearest sea port is Visakhapatnam located at a distance of approx 325 km respectively. The nearest river is Indravati, located at a distance of 3 km.

Consultants to NMDC

MECON^[6]

NMDC has signed a contract with MECON on 23 February 2011 for Engineering, Design and Consultancy services for upcoming Steel Plant Nagarnar.

As a part of the above, MECON will provide Procurement Services, Basic Engineering Services, Detailed Engineering Services, Designer’s Supervision Services, Inspection Services, Assistance in Commissioning Services and other General Services.

PFC Consulting^[7]

For meeting the power requirement of the proposed integrated steel plant, NMDC has decided to set up a Captive Power Plant with a Joint Venture (JV) partner.

For assisting NMDC in selection of a JV partner, NMDC has appointed PFC Consulting (a subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation) as the consultant.

Project Facilities^[8]

Facilities	Details
Coke Oven & By Product Complex	2 x 67 ovens, 7.0 m tall
Steel Melting Shop (SMS)	Sinter Plant	1 x 460 sqm
Blast furnace complex	4,506 cum
Basic Oxygen furnace	2 x 175 t
Ladle furnace	2 x 175 t
RH-OB	2 x 175 t
2x40 MW	Thin Slab caster	2 x 1 strand
Hot strip finishing train	6 strands
Lime & Dolo Plant	2 x 500 t/d & 1 x 300 t/d
Oxygen plant	2 x 1250 t/d

Project Status^[8]

Order for all packages worth Rs 14,000 crores are already finalized. The basic engineering for all packages is at advanced stage of completion. The basic engineering for remaining packages has also started. About 90% of site enabling works like construction water, construction power, roads & drainage, site leveling etc. are already completed. The civil & structural work for RMHS, Coke Oven, Sinter Plant, Blast Furnace, oxygen plant and SMS has started. Equipment supply for RMHS and Blast Furnace has also commenced.

Overall project progress is around 80%. The plant is scheduled to be commissioned by December 2016 & it will commence production by July 2017.

Details of Contracts Awarded by NMDC^[9]

There are nine main technological procurement packages identified by NMDC for the upcoming Steel Plant at Nagarnar. The packages are Raw Material Handling System (RMHS), Coke Ovens, Byproduct Plant, Sinter Plant, Blast Furnace Complex, Steel Melting Shop, Thin Slab Caster with Hot Strip Mill, Oxygen Plant, Lime & Dolo Plant and other auxiliary Facilities.^[8]

Steel Melting Shop

SEW Infrastructure Ltd has signed a contract with consortium comprising Siemens,VAI (Austria).

Sinter Plant Complex

NMDC has signed a contract on 3 March 2011 with consortium comprising Siemens, VAI (Austria), SVAI India and Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd., for turnkey execution of the Sinter Plant Complex.

This is the first contract amongst the nine main technological packages for the upcoming Steel Plant at Nagarnar and the cost of the package is about Rs. 760 crores.

The scheduled period of completion is 35 months from the date of the contract.

Blast Furnace

NMDC has signed a contract on 31 May 2011 with consortium of Tata Projects Limited, Danieli Corus (Netherlands) and Danieli Corus (India) for setting up India's largest blast furnace of 4506 cubic metres at its upcoming steel plant at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh state. The 1700 crore blast furnace will be NMDC's first and India's largest to date.

The consortium is expected to commission the blast furnace within a period of 33 months.

The blast furnace will be designed for production of 9900 tonnes per day with state of the art refractory and soft water closed loop system.

Raw Material Handling System Package^[10]

NMDC has signed the contract for Raw Material Handling System Package for the upcoming Steel Plant at Nagarnar, with M/s. BHEL on 3rd Sept, 2011 valued at Rs 1395 Crore to be completed within 30 months.

The Raw Material Handling System will handle @ 10 MT/year of Raw Material catering to the different units of the proposed Plant.

As of 7 October 2011, BHEL has awarded part of the work to McNally Bharat Engineering Company Ltd for Design, Engineering, Manufacture, Supply, Erection, Testing, Commissioning & PG Tests of Stacker Reclaimer Machines & Commissioning spares for Raw material handling System (Package 1) valued at Rs 98.23 Crores. As of 3 December 2011, McNally Bharat Engineering Company Ltd has in turn awarded part of the work to Elecon Engineering Company Ltd for supply, erection and commissioning of 2 Nos. Rail mounted self-propelled multi bucket Barrel wheel Blender valued at Rs. 18.78 Crores.

As of 3 October 2011, BHEL has also awarded part of the work directly to Elecon Engineering Company Ltd for Design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection, start up, Testing & Commissioning & PG test for 4 sets of wagon tippler with Side arm charger and commissioning spares for Raw Materials Handling systems (Package 1) valued at Rs. 33.00 Crores.

As of 15 September 2011, BHEL has also awarded part of the work to Tecpro Systems to undertake Design, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply, Fabrication, Erection, Testing & Commissioning of the Ore Handling Plant Project and Coal Handling Plant Project of Raw Material Handling System. The Ore Handling Plant part of the order is valued at Rs. 406.9 Crore and the Coal handling Plant part is valued at Rs. 114.6 Crore.^[11]

Coke Oven Complex Package

NMDC has signed the contract for Coke oven Package for the upcoming Steel Plant at Nagarnar, with the Consortium led by M/s Bhilai Engineering Corporation (BEC) on 6th Sept, 2011. The total cost of the package is Rs.1978.00 crores.

The coke oven contract is stated to be the largest contract signed by NMDC for the integrated steel plant.

The Coke Oven Plant is scheduled to be executed within the overall time frame of 33 months.

By Product Plant (BPP) Package

NMDC has signed the contract for By Product Plant (BPP) Package for the upcoming Steel Plant at Nagarnar with the Consortium led by Shriram EPC (SEPC) on 10 January 2012. The total cost of the package is Rs 509 crore.

Shriram EPC will lead a Consortium in association with Hutní Projekt Frýdek-Místek from Czech Republic and Beekay Engineering Corporation to complete the order.

The order entails Design, Engineering, Supply of Plant & Equipment, Structural and Civil Works, Erection, Testing and Commissioning.

The schedule for completion of the package is 30 months.

Basic Oxygen Furnace^[12]

A consortium, led by Siemens VAI Metals Technologies, won the €290-million order for a basic oxygen furnace converter.

The project is scheduled for completion by mid-2015.

Siemens will be in-charge of the design and turnkey supply of the steel plant, including two LD (BOF) converters, two 175-ton de-sulfurisation plants, two ladle furnaces, and a degassing plant.

The turnkey supply includes material handling systems, primary and secondary de-dusting systems, a gas recovery plant and a water treatment plant.

The consortium members are SEW Infrastructure Ltd and Mukand Engineers Ltd, who will be responsible for the civil works, manufacturing and erection of the steel structures, as well as for general erection of equipment.

Thin Slab Casteing & Rolling Facility ^[13]

On August 24, 2012 NMDC, Danieli & C Italy, Danieli India, Brickmont and Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Ltd. led consortium have signed the contract for the supply of the Thin Slab Casting and Rolling Mill for the plant.

The thin slab rolling package includes twin strand vertical curved slab casters, two line tunnel furnaces, in-line Hot Strip Mill with 2xRoughing + 4xFinishing stands (provision for 1 more finishing stand in future), coil handling and storage area. The equipment is being supplied by Danieli & C Italy, Danieli India Linmited, Andritz Metals Inc. USA (formerly known as Bricknmont) and Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd. on turnkey bases including all auxiliary facilities, civil works, buildings, cranes, roll shop, etc.

400,000 tonne per year of the HRC will be converted into 2 meters to 12 meters long sheets through a cut to length line which is also part of the scope of supply.

The caster features the well known Danieli Vertical Curved design with a radius of 5,000 mm and metallurgical length of 14 meters. It comprises two independent casting strands having an hourly average capacity in excess of 205 tph each.

The Thin Slab Casting & Rolling facility will produce Hot rolled coils of the following materials

- Boiler low/moderate pressure pressure vessel quality plates of IS:2002 & IS:2041 grades
- API-5L Quality pipes up to X-80 grade
- LPG cylinder sheets of IS:6240 grade
- Commercial quality HR coils for cold rolling
- Draw quality steels - D, DD, EDD
- Auto body grades E34, E38, BSK46, FE410, Dual-phase steels up to 6 mm thickness, Interstitial Free steel (IF), TRIP steels, Silicon steels up to 3.2%Si non-oriented grades

2x40 MW Captive Power Plant

NMDC has signed the contract for setting of gas based 2x40 MW Captive Power Plant with Thermax Ltd on 22.02.2013. The total project cost is 502.47 Cr. The order entails EPC-Design, Engineering, Supply of Plant & Equipment, Structural and Civil Works, Erection, Testing and Commissioning.

Arrangement for Power^[7]

For meeting the power requirement of the proposed integrated steel plant, NMDC has decided to set up a Captive Power Plant with a Joint Venture (JV) partner.

A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is being incorporated by NMDC for the above purpose initially as wholly owned subsidiary of NMDC. The SPV shall be converted into a Joint Venture Company with NMDC shareholding of at least 26% and the balance shareholding by the selected JV partner. NMDC would procure at least 51% of the power for captive power requirements of the units of the steel plant.

NMDC will purchase not less than 51% of the power generated. The SPV would be free to sell the balance power to any other procurer or as may be mutually agreed upon.

The above structure is as per Rule 3 of the Electricity Rules 2005 under the Electricity Act, 2003, the following criteria is to be met to qualify as a Captive Generating Plant.

Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd. (CSPDCL) has sanctioned 27.5 MVA power at 132 kV for construction power requirements of the steel plant. Construction work for the 132 kV tower and sub-station is in progress.

The maximum demand for the steel plant has been estimated at about 300 MW and the other units of NMDC, namely mines, pellet plant and slurry pumping system etc. require around 120 MW of power. Thus, the total requirement of power would be around 420 MW, out of which about 70 MW would be generated in the steel plant itself based on blast furnace, coke oven and LD gases.

The remaining power i.e. about 350 MW (Max Demand) would have to be sourced from external agencies (Captive Power Plant & (CSPDCL). 2. For providing power supply to the integrated steel plant at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh state Power Transmission Corporation Limited (CSPTCL) has to construct:‐ a) 400 kV line from Raipur to Jagdalpur b) 400/220 kV substation at Jagadalpur c) 220 kV line from Jagdalpur to Nagarnar. For these FC has to be obtained by the State Govt at the earliest to ensure their completion by March 2015 for starting commissioning activities of the plant.

NMDC Ltd will be generating about 70 MW of captive power using gases from steel making processes in the upcoming 3 MTPA Nagarnar steel plant in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.

The power would be generated from gases released from blast furnace, coke oven and 'LD gases'.

The total power requirement of the steel plant would be around 420 MW in which the mines, pellet plant and the slurry pumping system would require around 120 MW of power, officials stated.

The remaining 350 MW power would be conventional in nature which would be fulfilled by the captive power plant and the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd (CSPDCL).

Pellet Plant & Slurry Pipe Line^[8]

State-owned NMDC Ltd will spend Rs 10,000 crore on setting up slurry pipelines and pellet plants, among other works, for its upcoming steel plant in Chhattisgarh. The Chhattisgarh portion of the project includes setting up a slurry pipeline from Biladilla to Nagarnar along with ore processing plants at Biladilla and pellet plant at Nagarnar. NMDC also said that the slurry pipeline system from Nagarnar to Vizag along with the pellet plant at Vizag will be set up in joint venture, in which NMDC and RINL will be prime partners and selection of other partners is in progress.

For the long-term, NMDC will set up a 15-mtpa slurry pipeline and reduce its dependency on the railway. The project will be executed in two phases—from Bacheli to Nagarnar at an estimated outlay of Rs 4,000 crore; and from Nagarnar to Vizag at an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore. Work on phase one has started. The pipeline will transport pellet feed concentrate from Bailadila to Vizag via Jagdalpur along the highways with a provision of partial off-take to feed its proposed steel plant at Nagarnar.

The Bailadila sector—where NMDC started mining nearly six decades ago—has the best quality ore available globally with Fe (iron) content of more than 64 per cent. In the financial year 2014-15, it mined nearly 21 million tonnes or two-thirds of its total production of iron ore from this region. However, even as it takes steps to ensure increased availability of iron ore, NMDC hopes for better law and order in Chhattisgarh for uninterrupted production and dispatch operations because more than 60 per cent of its production in the coming years is planned in the naxal insurgency-hit state.

Railway Facilities^[8]

NMDC has also taken up doubling of the Kirandul-Jagdalpur railway line to increase evacuation capacity by rail from Bailadila from 28 mtpa to more than 40 mtpa in the next four years. The company has entered into an understanding with the Railways for the project, likely to be commissioned by 2019. NMDC will invest Rs 1,144 crore for the project, the cost of which was locked at price of 2013.

At the Kirandul complex, it plans to construct a rapid loading system with a capacity of 14 mtpa with a merry go round railway track. The official says the 140-km Rowghat-Jagdalpur rail line, when commissioned, will further ease evacuation. IRCON has initiated the ground work for the Rs 2,000-crore project, a joint venture of NMDC, Chhattisgarh government, SAIL and IRCON.

Notably, the electrification work for movement of trains have begun at the Railway siding site coming up at NMDC Ltd’s proposed 3.0 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant (ISP) at Nagarnar in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, officials stated.

References