Indian private-sector producer Tata Steel has restarted the blast furnace at its 1mn t/yr Neelachal Ispat Nigam (NINL) at Kalinganagar in Odisha state, according to the firm on 3 October.
The steelmaker had completed NINL's acquisition through its subsidiary Tata Steel Long Products on 4 July and plans to expand it to a 4.5mn t/yr long products complex over the next few years.
"Given that the site was not in operation for two years, we wanted to restart the furnace quickly… We are now focused on ramping up production gradually to rated capacity as per plan," Tata Steel's chief executive officer and managing director T V Narendran said.
NINL was shut in March 2020 following huge losses and was put up for auction by the government in January last year.
Tata Steel approved a merger with its seven metal subsidiaries last month to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs.
Tata Steel's crude steel production from its Indian operations stood at 19.06mn t in the fiscal year 2022 ended March.
