In response to Hon Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, Dalmia-OCL Ltd, India’s fastest-growing refractory company, on Monday launched a new refractory line for production of magnesia carbon (MgO-C) bricks at its Rajgangpur plant in Odisha. Minister of State for Steel, Faggan Singh Kulaste inaugurated the production line, which will have a capacity of 108,000 tonnes and cater to the demand of domestic steel manufacturers.
Once fully commissioned, this will be India’s largest refractory line for the production of magnesia carbon bricks and promises to cut the nation’s import dependence by up to 50 per cent. The refractory line, which has been set up under Dalmia-OCL’s initiative of ‘Bharat Ki Factory Mein Bharat Ki Refractory’ (India’s refractory in India’s factory), will come up in three phases of 36,000 tonnes each. This product is widely consumed by the steel industry and most of the current demand – which is nearly 300,000 tonnes annually – is met through imports.
Under this initiative, Dalmia-OCL, a Dalmia Bharat Group company, is localising the production of most refractories to provide support to its key customers such as SAIL, Tata Steel, JSW Group, JSPL Group, AMNS, etc. With the launch of the new manufacturing line, the company aims to substitute imports with locally manufactured MgO-C bricks and expects to capture 25 percent market share. Subsequently, the company plans to export these bricks to Europe and other key steel markets across the globe. The company has made a cumulative investment of Rs 500 million in the past two years and expects its total refractory business to grow by 50 per cent in the next five years.
Further, Dalmia-OCL plans to make a cumulative investment of another Rs 1 billion in the next five years to boost its domestic manufacturing capacity and align itself to India’s vision to become a 300 million tonne (MT) steel manufacturing nation by the end of this decade.
Speaking on this occasion, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Steel said, “Today, the steel industry’s capacity is 142 MT for which almost 1.2 MT of refractory is required and almost 30 per cent of refractories is imported. It is therefore imperative to enhance refractory production in India to decrease our dependency on imports and become self-sufficient. The National Steel Policy 2017 has set a target of achieving 300 MT steel capacity by 2030-31 and this will increase demand for domestic refractories.”
Congratulating Dalmia-OCL for the new magnesia carbon line he hoped the company will further set up more refractory lines to cater to the steel industry and realise the vision of truly Aatmanirbhar Bharat. At the same time, it was also critical that the entire steel industry came together to realise the dream of making the country self-reliant by buying only from the Indian manufacturers to reduce their dependence on imports.
Sameer Nagpal, CEO, Dalmia-OCL said, “Under this new line we will be putting up the capacity of 108,000 tonnes in MgO-C brick in our Rajgangpur plant in Odisha and will be commissioning it in three phases of 36,000 tonnes each. The first phase inaugurated today will play a pivotal role in substituting imports from China. We have thus started the process of shielding our steelmakers from vagaries and fluctuations of global markets. Going forward, we will be further strengthening our manufacturing capabilities to not only make India aatmanirbhar but also a major export hub.”