OREANDA-NEWS. January 19, 2012. Essar Projects India Limited (EPIL) has today announced the handing over of the 5- MTPA steel plant to Essar Steel Limited. The completion of this project makes the Hazira Steel Complex in Gujarat, with an annual capacity of 10 MTPA, the largest single location flat steel producer in India and the fourth largest single location flat steel producer globally. This has been completed at a total cost of Rs. 37,500 crores.

In a ceremony held at Hazira, Mr A V Amarnath, CEO, Minerals & Metals SBU, Essar Projects,  handed over the completed project by presenting a symbolic key to Mr Rajiv Bhatnagar, COO, Essar Steel & Mr P Alagurajan, Chief – Projects, Essar Steel.

With the completion of this expansion project, Essar Projects has become a leading EPC Contractor for steel industry. It has now an established track record in setting up large integarted steel plants from raw material processing to setting up down stream steel processing facilities like Plate Mill & Pipe Mill.

Commenting on the completion of the project, Mr Alwyn Bowden, CEO, Essar Projects said, “This project has reinforced  the competence of Essar Projects as the premier EPC contactor with great project management skills backed with necessary resources and construction capabilities that gives us further confidence to take up mega projects anywhere in the world.’

In order to support the steel plant, Essar Projects has also built associated facilities in Hazira that include a 30-MTPA all-weather port, two power plants with an annual capacity of 1,015 MW, Oxygen and lime plants, a fabrication facility, and a self contained township.

This steel plant will play a major role in making Gujarat a global industrial hub catering to the needs of capital and consumable goods, shipbuilding and automobile sector. Being a port-

based plant, its strategic location makes it an ideal gateway for meeting the global demand for steel. Domestically, the complex will provide world-class steel to meet the diverse needs of various industries, while also making the Hazira Steel Complex a national hub for Essar Steel to provide a range of steel products to the rest of the country.

On completion of this project, Mr. Dilip Oommen, CEO, Essar Steel said, “We congratulate Essar Projects for this stupendous achievement. EPIL has built these state-of-the-art facilities within the stipulated time. It is heartening to note that all the facilities are functioning efficiently without any problem. This gives us a clear advantage in bringing down our costs and offers us operational flexibility in terms of usage of raw materials and product mix. While completing this project, we have ensured that the safety and environmental aspects are given due importance in the design, construction and operations of the plant.”

With the execution of this mega project, EPIL has demonstrated its capability in implementing such large complex projects to the highest global quality standards. This is among the biggest steel plants built in India in recent times and reflects EPIL's capability in building world class infrastructure in India.

In order to complete the steel project, EPIL has utilised latest engineering software including PDS, CAESAR, STRUCAD, STADD PRO and spent 1.5 million engineering hours. It also deployed over 1,000 engineers, 22,000 labourers and over 725 kinds of equipment during the construction period.

In addition, Essar has invested in  an 18 MTPA refinery, 1.5 MTPA Plate Mill, 0.6 MTPA Pipe Mill,  1600 MW power projects, 88 MTPA port facilities and a township in Jamnagar in Gujarat, taking the total projects executed in Gujarat alone to over Rs. 90,000 crores.