Tata BlueScope Steel announced the launch of its coated steel manufacturing facility at an inaugural function at Jamshedpur today. The inauguration of the coated steel plant was done at the hands of Arjun Munda, chief minister, Jharkhand, in the presence of the Peter Varghese, Australian high commissioner. HM Nerurkar, managing director, Tata Steel, and Paul O’Malley, managing director and CEO, BlueScope Steel, were also present on the occasion.

Spread over an area of around 61 acres, the greenfield factory has been set up with an investment of Rs880 crore and will cater to India and other SAARC countries. The highly sophisticated coated steel manufacturing facility has an annual metallic coating capacity of 250,000 tonnes, including pre-painting capacity of 150,000 tonnes. The plant provides direct employment to over 225 people and contractual employment also to over 200 people in its service area.

The Jamshedpur plant will be able to address the increasing demand for high-quality coated steel products in the SAARC region by locally manufacturing globally acclaimed brands like ZINCALUME® steel and COLORBOND® steel. The factory employs high-end technology, successfully developed by BlueScope Steel through its R&D work for over 40 years. The products manufactured from the plant will have better colour durability and material flexibility than the conventional material available in the market.

During the inauguration, Mr Munda commented, “I am pleased to inaugurate this state-of-the-art facility. In addition to aiding the industrial growth of Jharkhand, this plant will create more business opportunity for people of the region and the state.”

Mr Nerurkar said, “Tata Steel has been pursuing initiatives in the building and construction sector for the past several years, with the aim of promoting the usage of steel in this sector and thus increasing steel consumption in India. With the start up of coated steel plant, Tata BlueScope Steel will be very strong in serving coated steel customers. Tata BlueScope Steel has a strategic advantage of having technology support of BlueScope Steel and a continuous supply of raw material feed from Tata Steel’s CRM, Bara. Jharkhand was chosen as an ideal location for this plant not only because of raw material availability, but also because of Tata Steel’s preference for this state. Therefore TBSL has given very high preference in employing local people of this state.”

Commenting on the occasion, Mr O’Malley said, “India and the SAARC countries are a very important market for the growth of our coated steel business globally. The building and construction industry in the SAARC region is poised to grow at a significant pace, driven by major investments in the infrastructure sector. The new facility at Jamshedpur has the ability to service this high-growth market with our world-class coated steel products like COLORBOND® and ZINCALUME® steels.”

Harish Pathak, managing director, Tata BlueScope Steel, thanked the Government of Jharkhand and the chief minister for his unflinching support throughout in setting up the Jamshedpur manufacturing facility. He further said, “This plant will be the cornerstone of our growth story in future. I am positive that with the launch of this plant, we have entered the next phase of our growth. In a short span of six years, Tata BlueScope Steel has gathered a strong foothold and immense experience in understanding its customers’ needs and applications in the Indian construction industry. With BlueScope Steel’s technical knowhow and Tata Steel’s strong and steady supply of raw material, the new plant is all set to bring to the customer, a bouquet of benefits in coated steel arena.