Latest news with #BlastFurnace
Time of India
29-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
CAG flags financial loss due to SAIL's poor inventory management from 2016-23
According to the CAG, while all the five integrated steel plants of SAIL have implemented SAP-ERP system, the same was yet to be implemented in all units or offices of SAIL. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG ) of India has flagged discrepancies in inventory handling practices of Steel Authority of India Limited SAIL ) from 2016-2023. According to the auditor's report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, this led to loss of time and money at the public sector undertaking during this found that faulty price fixation adopted by SAIL in the agreement for sale of Blast Furnace slag (a byproduct of steel making) was detrimental to the financial interest of the Company. Sale of slag at a lower rate resulted in inability to earn revenue of Rs 441.40 crore during 2015 to 2023.'Market price of slag was between Rs 500 and Rs 1,220 per tonne during 2009-14, whereas the rate provided in the agreement was between Rs 336.65 and Rs 444.24 per tonne,' a CAG statement said. The slag in question was provided by Bokaro Steel Plant during this another anomaly, India's supreme audit institution said SAIL had not fixed any benchmark for inventory carrying cost per tonne of raw material, semi-finished material and finished goods. This is even though on an average, SAIL had an inventory of Rs 21,698 crore during 2016-17 to 2022-23 which constitutes about 67 per cent of its current also failed to maintain stock levels of raw materials like iron ore, coke, sinter due to which Blast Furnace was put under off-blast state resulting in inability to produce Hot Metal of 9.32 lakh tonnes and to earn potential revenue of Rs 1,231.52 crore at Rourkela, Bokaro and Durgapur Steel Plants, the auditor to the CAG, while all the five integrated steel plants of SAIL have implemented SAP-ERP system, the same was yet to be implemented in all units or offices of SAIL. 'The IT systems in each Plant were running in isolation which led to various control issues like non-availability of real time data on stock of raw materials, absence of centralised vendor database and manual intervention in SAP-ERP system,' the auditor these, the stock verification report was not prepared as prescribed in the guidelines on stock verification of the Central Marketing Organisation. 'In 46 out of 49 stockyards, stock verification was not conducted on half yearly basis, as prescribed in the policy, in one or more years during 2016-17 to 2022-23,' the CAG said while adding in 10 stockyards, stock verification had not been conducted at all during this period.
Hans India
27-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
After a hiatus, BF-III of RINL buzzes back to life
Visakhapatnam; Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) is ready to operate Blast Furnace (BF)-III which was kept closed for a while. Secretary of Ministry of Steel Sandeep Poundrik is slated to recommence the operations of the BF-III at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) on June 27 (Friday). The Blast Furnace remained shut for the past 10 months due to inadequate supply of raw material. Even as the situation in terms of raw material is yet to see any signs of improvement in the plant, the recommencement of the BF-III is creating a sense of unrest among employees and trade union leaders. Earlier, when the BF-III was restarted, it had to be shut down again due to insufficient supply of raw material. When the Ministry of Steel Secretary visited the plant, he announced that the BF-III will be made operational again after ensuring that the raw material supply lasts for at least three months. According to reliable sources, the raw material is not going to last for more than 15 days now. In this backdrop, the employees wonder how all the three BFs in the VSP would continue to operate with limited resources. Sharing his view, Steel CITU honorary president J Ayodhya Ramu pointed out that the Centre and VSP management are keen on operating the plant with full capacity. 'However, they are not concerned about sorting out ground level challenges faced. It would be appreciable if the Steel Ministry comes up with a concrete solution to run all the three blast furnaces with full capacity in a sustained manner rather than recommencing the BF-III in a hurry,' he opined. In the meantime, a section of employees was given an opportunity to opt for VRS, while others are getting retired each month. Also, nearly 4,000 contract workers were removed from the organisation. 'The ones that were working were removed from the plant. Replacing them, the management is engaging inexperienced workers. This is a dangerous trend as there is a large scope for accidents to recur in the plant,' stressed Adi Narayana, chairman of Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata as the Centre announced a revival package of Rs.11,440 crore to the VSP, the emphasis is more on steering the plant towards a profitable growth. But safety of workers and the plant's sustainability remain grossly neglected.
Hans India
14-06-2025
- Health
- Hans India
‘Blood' connects them for rest of their lives!
Visakhapatnam: They may not be blood-related. But 'blood' connects them for the rest of their lives. As 'World Blood Donor Day' is celebrated on June 14, a section of donors share what donating blood means to them, offering support in the nick of time, saving lives and striking a chord. With the theme focusing on 'give blood, give hope: together we save lives', the occasion serves as an effective platform to build awareness about the importance of donating safe blood to treat patients, contribute to narrowing the gap between demand and supply and thank the unconditional support of voluntary donors. After donating blood for 55 times, DGM (Operations) of Blast Furnace, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited Karri Srinivas says that he looks forward to contributing to the cause. There are several reasons for it. 'One, it envelops me with a sense of happiness as I could save lives. Two, my blood group is O negative which is pretty rare. Three, survival chances among patients is quite high when I donate,' he shares. Started at the age of 24, Srinivas says that his mother and wife have been quite supportive in encouraging him to reach out to patients. There were times when he travelled all the way to Vijayawada from Visakhapatnam to donate blood for a dengue patient. 'In another case, parents of a day-old infant required blood transfusion due to Rh incompatibility. When I volunteered to donate blood, they were so relieved. The parents invite me for special occasions as they consider me as their family member,' Srinivas recalls. Being part of the app ' Srinivas says that he is among wilful donors list registered in the app and emphasises the need to popularise such platforms so that more number of volunteers could reach out to patients whenever need arises. Striking a chord At 69, Pilla Venkata Ramanamurthy, visiting faculty at Dr Lankapalli Bullayya College, says that he had donated blood 105 times so far. 'I started donating blood regularly from 21 years of age as I consider it a commitment towards society. As my blood group is O positive, I volunteered to donate in several camps held across the city,' he recalls. Although he donated blood up to the age of 65, the Sanskrit lecturer mentions that if permitted, he would still look forward to contributing to the cause. 'But as the upper age limit for repeat donors is 65 years, I could not donate anymore. However, this trend has to change in India as the upper age limit for blood donation in some of the foreign countries is 80. I think donors should be allowed to donate blood as long as they are healthy,' he opines. Even now, Venkata Ramanamurthy has been receiving calls from patients thanking him for reaching out to them in time. 'Through blood donation, we do strike a chord with patients and it is very soul-satisfying,' he adds. Blood is considered the most precious 'gift' that a volunteer can give to save a person who is in dire need. Those operating blood banks inform that depending on the components separated into red cells, plasma and platelets, a donor can save one or multiple lives. Marking the 'World Blood Donor Day', they underline the need to dispel myths associated with blood donation, build awareness among communities through social media platforms and organise camps at regular intervals to bridge the ever-increasing demand-supply gap.
