Question.
How are integrated steel plants different from mini steel plants? What problems does the industry face? What recent developments have led to a rise in production capacity?
( Chapter - 6 Manufacturing Industries, Cass X NCERT Contemporary India -II )
Answer.
Following are the differences between Integrated Steel Plants and Mini Steel Plants:
Integrated steel plants are large plants that make steel from iron ore raw material while mini steel plants are small plants that make alloy steel from scrap steel and sponge iron.
Examples of some important integrated steel plants are Bokaro Steel Plant, Bhilai Steel Plant, Rourkela Steel Plant, and Tata Iron and Steel Plant while examples of some important mini steel plants are Mukund Iron and Steel Company in Mumbai and Salegaonkar Pvt Ltd in Goa.
Integrated steel plants have large blast furnaces while mini steel plants have smaller blast furnaces.
Integrated steel plants use coking coal as energy in blast furnaces while mini steel plants use electricity for smelting.
Integrated steel plants require a lot of capital investment as compared to mini steel plants.
The production of integrated steel plants is hampered by the main problems - dependence on imported coking coal, low labor productivity, and disturbances in the transportation of iron ore while mini steel plants have the main problems - erratic power supply and low demand.
Problems faced by Integrated Steel Plants:
Integrated steel plants face the following problems:
As we know that iron ore, limestone, and coking coal are important raw materials for integrated steel plants for steel production. To produce 1 tonne of steel, 8 (eight) tonnes of coking coal, four tonnes of iron ore, and one tonne of limestone are required. The production of integrated steel plants is dependent on imported coking coal as India does not have high-quality coal to make coking coal. Imported coking coal makes Indian steel production costlier.
The main problems on the production side are costly imported coking coal, low labor output, and transportation issues, while on the supply side, Indian steel faces stiff competition from cheaper Chinese steel.
Problems of Mini Steel Plants:
Mini steel plants mainly face problems from erratic power supply [electricity] and poor infrastructure.
Recent developments have increased production capacity:
Liberalization and privatization in steel sectors led to increasing in production capacity. Now the government has launched Coking Coal Mission in 2022 to reduce the imported dependency on imported coking coal.
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