OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2011. Tata Steel, the world’s seventh largest steel maker, today, announced the completion of 100 years of its A-F blast furnace’s existence. It was on December 10, 1911, that the plant at Jamshedpur became active when the blast furnace was blown for the first time.

The iron making process in India took a new shape with the blowing of the first blast furnace, ‘A’ blast furnace, at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur. The journey continued as the company came up with the ‘B’ blast furnace in 1912, the ‘E’ blast furnace in 1919, followed by the ‘C’ and ‘D’ blast furnaces in the later years. The ‘F’ blast furnace was commissioned in 1958 and remained the company’s largest furnace till the commissioning of the ‘G’ blast furnace in 1992.

In this long and eventful journey, the ‘G’ blast furnace was rebuilt in 2005 and its capacity was increased from 1mtpa to 1.8mtpa. Recently, in 2008, the ‘H’ blast furnace was commissioned with a capacity of 2.5mtpa. Tata Steel hopes that in the coming years its blast furnace operations will see new heights. With improvement in technology and raw material quality, the blast furnaces are expected to achieve such operational excellence.

The company is proud to announce that within a few months from now, after the commissioning of the ‘I’ blast furnace, Jamshedpur works will become a 10mtpa steel plant. To celebrate this historic occasion, all present and past iron makers of Tata Steel who were associated with the blast furnace operations, assembled at the A-F blast furnaces department.

While addressing the gathering, chief guest HM Nerurkar, managing director, Tata Steel, said, “This is indeed a momentous occasion for all the employees of Tata Steel, however, the bigger challenge that lies in front of us is to equip ourselves with a better method of using our raw materials, considering the volume and the cost. I am sure that with the advanced use of technology and a committed workforce, we are empowered to solve such challenges that lie ahead.” On a similar note, guest of honour, Raghunath Pandey, president, Tata Worker’s Union (TWU), stated, “The hundredth year celebration also marks hundred years of a healthy relationship that the company management has nurtured with its union. It’s only on the basis of a committed workforce that the company could achieve so magnificently.”

Dignitaries and many senior officials of the company, office bearers of TWU, union committee members and other employees of the coke, sinter and iron division were also present to grace the occasion.