A consortium led by Siemens VAI Metals Technologies received an order from the Government of India's fully owned public enterprise National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC) for the supply of a complete LD (BOF) steelmaking plant. The order volume for the consortium amounts to approximately 290 million Euro. The steel works will be built at Nagarnar in the state of Chhattisgarh as part of an integrated production complex with an annual capacity of approximately three million tons of steel. The project is scheduled for completion by mid-2015. NMDC had already ordered a sintering plant from Siemens for the Nagarnar project site.

The integrated steelmaking plant of NMDC in Nagarnar is part of a national program to increase the steel production capacity in India. Siemens will be in charge of the design and the "turnkey" supply of the steel plant, including two LD (BOF) converters, two 175-tonne desulfurization plants (HMDS), two ladle furnaces (LF), and a RH degassing plant. The "turnkey" project scope of supply also includes the material handling systems, the primary and secondary dedusting systems, a gas recovery plant and a water treatment plant.

The project will be executed in collaboration with the Indian Siemens VAI Metals Technologies Pvt Ltd and the consortium members - SEW Infrastructure Ltd. and Mukand Engineers Ltd., who will be responsible for the civil works, the manufacturing and the erection of the steel structures, as well as for general erection of equipment. Siemens will supply the complete basic (Level 1) and process automation (Level 2). The installation of state-of-the-art automation and process technology will allow NMDC to produce high-quality steel at low specific raw material and energy consumption. At the same time, the plant will comply with environmental standards in India as well as in Europe.

The hot metal for the new steel works will be produced in a blast furnace. Subsequently, the hot metal will be processed to liquid steel in the steel plant. The liquid steel will then be cast in a thin slab caster and in line hot-strip mill to process a wide range of hot rolled coil and sheets, including high-strength-low- carbon steels, pipeline grades(API) and steel grades for the automotive industry.

NMDC is India's largest manufacturer and exporter of iron ore. The state-owned company mines approximately 30 million tons of ore each year at locations throughout India.

http://www.siemens.com/metals