SAIL grabs bulk of Vishwakarma awards for 2010

KOLKATA: Some 64 out of total 118 awardees at the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) for the performance year 2010 were from Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). The state owned steel major won 13 awards that went to 64 employees from its five plants including Bhilai Steel Plant, Bokaro Steel Plant, Rourkela Steel Plant, Durgapur Steel Plant and Salem Steel Plant. The estimated annual savings resulting from implementation of works in SAIL's award winning projects amount to over Rs. 143 crore on a recurring basis. On a one time basis, it adds up to Rs. 58.8 crore.

The awardees were felicitated by union minister of labour and employment Mr Mallikarjun Kharge at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. "It is a matter of pride that more than half of the total awardees who have won the Vishwakarma (VRP) are from SAIL," C S Verma, chairman, SAIL said. One of the award winning projects includes design, development and installation of Purging System for skirt pressure impulse lines in Basic Oxygen Furnace, SMS-II of Bhilai Steel Plant. The skirt pressure lines maintain the draught in the Gas Duct of Gas Cleaning Plant of the convertor of SMS-II.