The Minister of Steel, Shri Beni Prasad Verma has said that the process of expansion of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant’s (VSP) production capacity to 6.3 MTPA against original capacity of 3 MTPA of liquid steel is to be completed in two stages. Installation of new Blast Furnace and Steel Melting Shop to produce additional 2.8 MTPA of liquid steel along with addition of new Wire Rod Mill to produce 0.60 MTPA of finished product has been carried out in Stage-I expansion and installation of two new Finishing Mills, viz. Special Bar Mill and Structural Mill to produce additional 1.45 MTPA of finished steel has been carried out in Stage-II expansion of VSP. Under Stage–I of expansion major units, viz., Blast Furnace, Turbo Blower–4, Oxygen Plant etc. had already been commissioned. Several auxiliary systems viz. Oxygen Plant, Water System, Power System, Utility System etc. have also been commissioned and under operation. Balance units of Stage–I are planned to be commissioned progressively by end of the current financial year. In both the Special Bar Mill and Structural Mill of Stage-II expansion, almost all the supplies have been completed. Major Civil and Structural works are complete and the equipment erection is in progress. Several related units viz. water system, power system etc. are getting commissioned matching the requirement.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today Shri Verma said, VSP is in the process of modernizing and upgrading its existing facilities to upkeep the health of the existing Blast Furnaces, Converters of Steel Melting Shop and Sinter Machines. In the process of modernization, production capacity will go up to 7.3 MTPA.