54% of total awardees from SAIL; Rs. 143 crore recurring annual savings and Rs 58.8 crores one time saving from award winning projects

New Delhi:

"It is a matter of pride for all of us that more than half of the total awardees who have won the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) are from Steel Authority of India Limited," stated SAIL Chairman Mr C.S. Verma at a felicitation ceremony for VRP awardees organised at SCOPE Complex yesterday. Continuing with its glorious tradition of previous years, 64 out of total 118 awardees for the performance year 2010 were from SAIL, who were awarded by Union Minister of Labour and Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge at a glittering ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan yesterday. Estimated annual savings resulting from implementation of works mentioned in SAIL's award winning projects are over Rs. 143 crore on a recurring basis and Rs. 58.8 crore on a one-time basis.

The 13 awards won by SAIL went to 64 employees from SAIL's five plants including Bhilai Steel Plant, Bokaro Steel Plant, Rourkela Steel Plant, Durgapur Steel Plant and Salem Steel Plant.

One of the award winning projects includes design, development and installation of Purging System for skirt pressure impulse lines in Basic Oxygen Furnace, SMS-II of Bhilai Steel Plant. The skirt pressure lines maintain the draught in the Gas Duct of Gas Cleaning Plant of the convertor of SMS-II. Bearing close proximity to the convertor mouth, the tapping points of skirt pressure signal line were prone to get blocked due to splashing of metal and slag during steel making process, which had to be cleared using expensive inert gases. It is in response to this challenge that a group of workmen from Bhilai constructed an auto purging system of Tapping Points using high pressure nitrogen. The new system is not only more efficient and clean, but has forever replaced manual purging with a more ergonomic and speedy alternative.

Picture Caption:

SAIL Chairman Mr C.S. Verma at a felicitation ceremony organized for Vishwakarma Rashtriya Award winners.