SAIL will produce rails for Metro on trial basis, said Chairman Amarendu Prakash
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public sector steel company Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is preparing to start trial production of head hardened (HH) rails to be used in metro rail and freight corridor projects by the end of this month. Company Chairman Amarendu Prakash has given this information. Prakash said in an interview that SAIL had earlier planned to start trial production of HH rail in August, but it was postponed due to demand from Indian Railways for normal rail like 880 grade. The chairman said that we have technology. We had planned it (HH Rail production), but then they (Railways) requested us to postpone the trials and now it will start at the end of October.
What is HH Rail?
HH rails are special rails used in high-speed freight corridors and metro rail projects. Such rails are manufactured using ‘head hardening’ technology to withstand approximately 50% more pressure than normal rails.
Impact on production due to rising prices of coking coal
SAIL has ordered eight consignments of 75,000 tonnes each of coking coal from Russia during the April-September period of 2023-24. He said that to increase the supply of coking coal, there is a plan to increase the production capacity of Mozambique-based ICVL from 20 lakh tonnes per annum to 40 lakh tonnes per annum. On the rising prices of coking coal, the Chairman said that it will have a direct impact on the cost of production and will put pressure on the profit margin. Coking coal prices were $ 230 per tonne in June-July, 2023, which reached $ 341 per tonne CFR in India at the end of September.
Production will take place in Bhilai Steel Plant
SAIL has set up facilities for production of HH rails in the new Universal Rail Mill (URM) at its Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Chhattisgarh, and ‘cold’ trials for the same have already been completed. SAIL will be the second company in the country to start production of HH rail. Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) produces HH rails at its plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.
Production of forge wheel in Durgapur Steel Plant
Prakash said SAIL also produces forged wheels for the Railways at Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) in West Bengal. He said that rails and wheels are supplied to Indian Railways. On the purchase of coking coal, Prakash said that we take coking coal from various sources in Australia, America, Russia and Indonesia. We also have a joint venture company in Mozambique.
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