The Hon’ble Union Minister of Steel, Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh dedicated the rebuilt Blast Furnace-1 ‘Parvati’ of SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) to the Nation on 11th June 2018 in the presence of Shri Jual Oram, Hon’ble Union Minister of Tribal Affairs. It is worth mentioning here that Blast Furnace-1 ‘Parvati’ is the first Blast Furnace of SAIL that was dedicated to the nation on 3rd February 1959 by the then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The Blast Furnace was put down on 6th August 2013 for total rebuilding. Although erected on the old foundation, the rebuilt furnace laced with superior technology has a higher production capacity. With the rebuilding the annual production capacity of the furnace has increased from 0.438 Million tonnes (MT) to 1.015 MT.
Dr. Aruna Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Shri Binoy Kumar, Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Steel, Shri Puneet Kansal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Shri Sameer Shukla, PS to Minister of Steel and Shri Parvinder Singh, Addl. PS to Minister of Steel, Shri P.K. Singh, Chairman, SAIL, Dr. G. Viswakarma, Director (Projects & Business Planning), SAIL, Shri Atul Srivastava, Director (Personnel) SAIL, Shri Ashwini Kumar, CEO, RSP, and many other senior officers of SAIL and a large number of employees were present on the occasion.
Earlier, the Hon’ble Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Burns and Plastic Surgery Department of Super Speciality block at Ispat General Hospital. This unit will be unique in the region and will fulfil the requirements of not only Rourkela but also of the people of neighbouring districts and states.
The dignitaries also visited the state-of-the-art New Plate Mill of RSP and planted saplings in the Pragati Udyan situated in front of the Mill.
Later during the day the visiting dignitaries attended a number of programmes and interacted with different stakeholders.
The Hon’ble Union Minister along with other dignitaries reached Rourkela in the morning. They were accorded a warm welcome at the Airstrip by many senior officers of SAIL, RSP and District Administration. An impressive Guard of Honour was given to the Hon’ble Union Minister of Steel by the CISF unit soon after his arrival at Rourkela Airstrip followed by another Guard of Honour by the Odisha Police at Rourkela House.
Prasanta Patnaik