ROURKELA: In a bid to ensure its energy security, the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) of SAIL has signed an MoU with GAIL India Ltd for supply of piped natural gas (PNG) for a period of five years.
The move comes in the backdrop of RSP facing difficulty in getting propane due to the ongoing West Asia conflict, forcing the plant to diversify its energy sources.
Signed on May 19, the MoU aims to ensure supply of PNG to RSP to support certain important aspects of steel manufacturing. RSP sources said the agreement marks an important step towards strengthening RSP’s energy security and ensuring uninterrupted availability of an alternate fuel source. The use of PNG will significantly reduce dependency on propane gas and enhance operational reliability and efficiency in critical production processes.
As part of the MoU, GAIL will facilitate laying of the required pipeline infrastructure for PNG supply. Long-term benefits of the arrangement includes cleaner fuel usage, improved energy efficiency, reduced carbon emissions and better cost optimisation. The shift towards natural gas will further support RSP’s sustainability goals and green manufacturing initiatives, while ensuring a stable and environment-friendly fuel supply for operations, particularly in the oxygen plant and other utility areas.
The initiative assumes significance in view of the prevailing geopolitical uncertainties. Prior to the West Asia conflict resulting in short supply of propane, the RSP had swiftly switched to alternate fuel of acetylene for slab cutting.
For that, RSP successfully commissioned a dissolved acetylene cylinder bank in its steel melting shop-II to operate the transverse torch cutting machine. Uninterrupted cutting operations and continuous feeding of slabs to the finishing mills are critical for operational sustainability in steel manufacturing.
RSP sources said oxygen and other industrial gases form the lifeline of modern steelmaking and play a crucial role in converters, continuous casting, cutting operations and various utility services. Various units of RSP produce different types of industrial gases as byproducts. These gases are also used to run major units, while the surplus is sold to external agencies.
In 2025-26, the oxygen plant achieved substantial revenue generation through the sale of liquid gases to outside agencies. A total of 712 tonnes of liquid argon was sold at a cost of Rs 3.62 crore. Sale of 419 tonnes of liquid nitrogen had earned RSP around Rs 11.75 lakh.
