Page 58 - August-2020-Issue

SAIL Promotes ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ through

Domestic Sourcing of Refractory Materials

teel Authority of India government’s thrust on Atma
Limited (SAIL) is actively Nirbhar Bharat is an opportu-
Sparticipating in making a nity for the domestic refractory
self-reliant India. It recently orga- manufacturers and can mutually
nized a webinar through its IISCO benefit the domestic steel indus-
Steel Plant, Burnpur with domes- try. During the webinar, it was
tic Refractories manufactures stressed that this is an opportuni-
from various regions to explore ty for domestic refractory manu-
the opportunities for enhanc- facturers to cater to the domestic
ing domestically manufactured requirements. For this, they will
refractory usage in integrated have ample opportunity to invest
steel plants both in terms of qual- Refractory relining in Convertor at in R&D and develop alternate re-
ity and quantity. A substantial SAIL-ISP going on. fractory products for which SAIL
quantity of imported refractory will give the platform for trial. In
is currently used in the steel plant of domestic refractory manufac- the webinar, the current & future
operations in India. This webi- turers. Refractories are essential requirements for refractory prod-
nar was aimed at shifting the materials used by the steel indus- ucts and challenges faced by in-
focus from imported refractory try in the internal linings of blast tegrated steel plants in adopting
to domestically manufactured furnaces and converters used for indigenous refractory products
refractory. Keeping this in view, steel making, in vessels for hold- were discussed at length. This
the webinar titled ‘Refractories ing and transporting metals, in platform was aimed at provid-
in Integrated Steel Plants: furnaces for heating steel before ing a mutual platform for explor-
Opportunities and Challenges further processing etc. ing each other’s requirements so
for Domestic Manufacturers’ In a bid to maximize domesti- as to realize the vision of 'Atma
was attended by all steel plants cally produced refractories, SAIL Nirbhar Bharat' and promote the
of SAIL as well as large number is taking several initiatives. The concept of ‘vocal for local’.

Cruise Vessel Calls at Cochin Port for

repatriation of Crew

ruise vessel MV Veendam as a preferred port of call for services at the anchorage in order
arrived at Cochin Port for crew change due to its proxim- to attract more ships to Cochin
Cthe repatriation of 138 ity to the international sea routes. and also help in generating em-
Indian seafarers. On arrival at Cochin Port Trust along with the ployment opportunities in the
BTP berth, thermal scanning of Customs, Immigration, port and region. So far, Cochin Port facili-
the disembarking crew was car- district health authorities are tated crew change (sign on & sign
ried out followed by swab col- doing utmost to help stranded off) of 1694 seafarers. Out of this,
lection for COVID-19 test. After Indian seafarers and to be relieved 1380 was done at outer anchorage
disembarkation procedures of from their ships and to proceed of Cochin Port, which is the high-
Customs, PHO, Immigration etc, to their homes. Apart from crew est outer anchorage crew change
the crew were shifted to paid changes and bunkering, Cochin facilitated among Indian ports,
quarantine. Cochin is emerging Port is looking to develop other since COVID-19 lockdown.

58 KaleidOscope August, 2020