Tata Steel starts production at Coke Ovens in Kalinganagar

KOLKATA: Tata Steel has started production from the Coke Ovens at its greenfield project at Kalinganagar in Odisha. The production, which commenced on September 4, 2015, marks a major milestone for the steel major's first greenfield steel plant outside Jamshedpur. The heating of Coke Ovens was initiated on May 19, 2015, Tata Steel said in an official statement on Wednesday.

Commenting on the development, Rajiv Kumar, vice president, (Operation), KPO, Tata Steel said: "It is a momentous occasion for Tata Steel as we strive ahead on the journey to commission the Kalinganagar Project. The production of coke from the coke oven plant is among the major achievements from Kalinganagar Project, Odisha and we are extremely happy to reach the milestone. We are confident of meeting our deadlines for the commissioning of the first phase of 3 million tonne per annum (mtpa) and rolling out of crude and saleable steel from the plant."

Coking coal when heated in Coke Ovens in absence of oxygen gets converted to coke. It is then used in the blast furnace along with iron ore for producing hot metal, which is further processed during steel-making.

Kalinganagar Project has a rated capacity of 3 mtpa in the first phase. Various units of plant will start commercial production sequentially, the statement added. In the first phase, the steel plant will have two Coke Oven batteries, each comprising 88 ovens and having a gross coke production capacity of 1.5 mtpa.