OREANDA-NEWS. April 12, 2011. President of India Her Excellency Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil today presented the SCOPE Meritorious Award for Environmental Excellence & Sustainable Development for the year 2009-10 to Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). The award and accompanying scroll of honour were received by SAIL Chairman Mr. C.S. Verma at a glittering function held at Vigyan Bhawan on the occasion of Public Sector Day instituted by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). Mr. Verma also received from Her Excellency the Certificate of Maharatna Status for SAIL.

According to Mr. Verma, “Maharatna SAIL is using the foundation of sustainable development to become a global player”. Over the last six years, concerted and committed efforts made by SAIL towards environment protection, which is one of the major criteria for achieving sustainable development, have yielded significant success. Air emissions have been reduced to 1.12 kg per tonne of crude steel in FY ’11, a reduction of 55%; specific effluent discharge level of 2.5 m3 per tonne of finished steel has been achieved, a reduction of 16%; and continued thrust on solid waste management has led to an improvement of over 16%.

SAIL has been a torchbearer in the field of Environment Management in the country. It was one of the first corporates to institutionalise environment management as a centre of excellence in the steel industry way back in the 1980s. As a responsible corporate citizen, SAIL started initiatives in the late 1980s with the formation of a Corporate Environment Management Division and Environment departments at all its plants/units, with the latest monitoring equipment and specialized training of all departmental executives. About 120 environmental schemes involving a financial commitment of Rs. 418 crore were implemented between 1993 and ’97. Besides, nearly Rs. 480 crore were invested exclusively on pollution control measures under the modernisation programme of SAIL during the late Nineties. Rs. 250 crore were also spent on departmentally organised addition, modification and replacement (AMR) schemes.