VISAKHAPATNAM: Visakhapatnam Steel Plant’s (VSP) Blast Furnace-1, also known as ‘Godavari,’ resumed operations on Monday morning after being out of service for six months. According to sources, the restart ceremony was led by VSP chairman and managing director, AK Saxena, along with key officials from the plant.
The revival of Blast Furnace-1 is expected to enhance production capacity by approximately 200,000 metric tonnes (MT) of steel per month. The furnace had been idle since May 15, 2024, due to the lack of raw materials, while production continued at Blast Furnaces 2 and 3. Earlier, Blast Furnace-3 also faced a two-month shutdown before resuming operations. However, it was halted again in September 2024 because of raw material scarcity. Together, the three blast furnaces previously produced around 21,000 tonnes of steel per day.
Blast Furnace-1 underwent a significant upgrade with Rs 600 crore that was inaugurated in July 2014, marking its first campaign since March 1990.
The resumption of operations at Blast Furnace-1 comes as a welcome development amid ongoing challenges faced by the plant and its employees, including concerns regarding privatisation.