Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has accorded its in-principle approval to the expansion plan of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) at a cost of Rs 9,869 crore (Rs 98.69 bn), the sources said.

 If the project is implemented, hot metal production capacity of the plant would increase to 4.5 million tones per annum, the sources said.

The objectives of the expansion plan include technology upgradation to increase the production of crude steel, improvement in quality of products, production of more value-added products and reduction in energy consumption, they

added.

The modernisation programme includes setting up of a fifth blast furnace with a working volume of 4,060 cubic metres and productivity of 2.3 tonnes per metre cube per day.

 Besides, the blast furnace number one in the plant would be reconstructed and upgraded to 1,250 metre volume with high pressure and coal dust injection facilities. The coal dust injection facility would also be incorporated in blast furnace number four, which would double the present hot metal capacity of the plant, the sources said.