Fire burns Rs 10.49 Cr of Bhilai Steel Plant

     Raipur, March 13, 2010: The Bhilai Steel Plant has incurred a loss of over Rs 10.49 Crore due to a major fire that broke out in the plant on February 1, last.

     “The losses on account of the fire on a provisional basis work out to Rs.10.49 crore,” Union Steel Ministry sources said today.

     Meanwhile, the Committee, which was constituted by the SAIL to investigate the cause of fire, had submitted its report after visiting the accident site.

     However, the Ministry of Steel had ordered a separate probe into the incident and was awaiting report on the matter, they added.

     A fire broke out in the cable gallery in Power Plant I of the BSP due to a breakdown of high tension (6.6 KV) cable pertaining to a ball mill motor, the officials said adding an earth fault signal had appeared in the system along with breakdown of cable.

     Among others BSP is the largest producer and leading rail maker of the world, which had produced over 15 million tonnes of rails or 2.7 lakh km in length. Bhilai is also the sole supplier of India’s longest rail tracks of 260 metres.

     It also export rails to 10 countries, including South Korea, New Zealand, Argentina, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Ghana, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

     For modernisation and capacity expansion of the BSP to increase its capacity to 7.5 million tonnes of Hot Metal and seven million tonnes of crude steel per annum Rs 11,262 crore was being invested, plant officials said.