The Visakhapatnam steel plant, popularly known as Vizag steel (Telugu: ఉక కు్కర మాగారం్మాగారం), is a steel producer integrated in Visakhapatnam, India built using German and Soviet technology. The company has grown from a loss-making Industry to 3-billion-dollar billing company which registers 203.6% growth in just four years. Vizag Steel Plant received the status of Navratna on November 17, 2010. Founded in 1971, the company focuses on producing value-added steel with 214,000 tonnes produced in August 2010 out of a total of 252,000 tonnes of salable steel produced. Plant in India and Asia Minor (or South and East Asia combined).
On 17 April 1970, the then Prime Minister of India, the late Indira Gandhi, announced the government's decision in Parliament to establish a steel plant in Visakhapatnam. Planning began with the appointment of the site selection committee in June 1970 and the committee's report was subsequently approved. On January 20, 1971, Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the plant. Consultants were appointed in February 1971 and feasibility reports were submitted in 1972. The first block of land was acquired on April 7, 1974. M / s M.N. Dastur & Co was appointed consultant to prepare the detailed report of the project in April 1975 and in October 1977 presented a proposal for 3.4 Mtpy of liquid steel. With the offer of aid from the government of the former USSR, a revised project was developed. A detailed project report for a plant with a capacity of 3.4 Mtpa was prepared by M / s M.N. Dastur & Co., in November 1980. In February 1981 a contract was signed with the USSR for the preparation of working drawings of coke ovens, blast furnace and sintering plant. The blast furnace foundation was laid, with the first concreting of the mass, in January 1982. Construction of the local township was also started at the same time.
In the 1970s, Kurupam Zamindars donated 6,000 acres of land to Vizag Steel Plant. A new Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) company was formed on February 18, 1982. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was separated from SAIL and RINL became the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in April 1982. Vizag Steel Plant is the only steel On Indian soil and is located on 33,000 acres (13,000 ha), and is about to expand to produce up to 20 MT on a single campus. On May 20, 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant expansion project from a capacity of 3.6 MT to 6.3 MT at a cost of Rs. 8,692 crores. But the investment was revised to 14,489 crores with the following classification:
• Expenses for the financial year 2009-10 Rs 1840 crores.
• Rs 5883 crores since the beginning of the project.
• The total commitment, including enabling works, acquisition of steel, consulting, spare parts, etc. Is Rs 11591 crores as of March 25, 2010.
The expansion project is expected to come online in 2012. It has been rated as "the best place to work in India" for five consecutive years.