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Wire & Cable ASIA – January/February 2014
India Insight
Plant improvements
A new coke oven battery has begun trials at the Sail
Authority of India’s Burnpur IISCO steel plant, as part of a
plan to increase capacity from 0.4 to 2.9 million tonnes of
hot metal. The new facilities will include a universal section
mill, and a wire rod and bar mill.
The wire rod mill has also commenced trial production.
Having an annual production capacity of 0.5 tonnes, the mill
will produce cold-headed steel for fasteners, critical wire
rope applications and special quality electrodes. The
product portfolio will offer sizes from 5.5mm to 22mm
diameter in low, medium and high carbon steel.
Steel Authority of India Ltd – India
Website:
Power to Manipur
The supply of power in Manipur may shortly be improved,
officials of the state electricity department have announced,
following the news that work on a 400kV transmission line
from Assam is making good progress.
To expedite the ongoing work on the power transmission
line from Silchar to Imphal via Jiribam, the Manipur
government has formed a dedicated committee to monitor
the project.
The 400kV transmission line is thought to be Manipur’s only
hope of improving the power situation in the state, where
inhabitants have access to electricity for barely five hours a
day. Existing transmission lines in Manipur are incapable of
drawing the full volume of power allocated to the state from
central sponsored and joint venture power plants.
Once completed, Manipur is hoping that the 400kV power
line will carry supply from power plants in Tripura.
Manipur Government – India
Website:
India’s first ultra mega
transmission project
Sterlite Grid has commissioned a 231km, 400kV
double-circuit quad transmission line to connect Purnia and
Bihar Sharif substations in the state of Bihar, India. The
move marks the completion of India’s first ultra mega
transmission project (UMTP).
Capable of offering critical connectivity for power
transmission from the hydro power plants in the north
eastern region, the new line will power over a million homes
in north east Bihar and northern India.
Sterlite Technologies director Pravin Agarwal said: “We are
building several critical lines which are crucial for evacuation
of power, and are hopeful that with continued support from
the state and central government, we will be able to deliver
these as per our commitments.”
As part of the Purnia–Bihar Sharif transmission line, the
company has installed a transmission line in the East North
Interconnection (ENICL) transmission project, linking Assam
with West Bengal and Bihar.
In 2010, Sterlite was awarded a contract worth $158.2m to
build transmission lines to transport 1,000MW of power
from hydropower projects, in the northeast, to over one
million homes in northern and eastern India. The project was
awarded on a BOOM basis (build, own, operate and
maintain) which would offer annuity revenues for Sterlite
Grid for about 25 years.
Sterlite Technologies – India
Website:
KEC’s 400kV contracts
KEC International Ltd
(KEC) has recently
secured large new
orders in India and the
Americas for its
transmission cables,
telecom and power
systems businesses.
Projects include two
orders for Tamil Nadu,
consisting of the supply and erection of 400kV transmission
lines between the proposed Anikadavu-Thappagundu and
the Anikadavu-Rasipalayam 400kV substations on a turnkey
basis. The orders were placed by the Tamil Nadu
Transmission Corporation Ltd.
In Andhra Pradesh, KEC will undertake the supply and
erection of the 400kV transmission line between Kamavara-
pukota-Chinnakorukondi substations, again on a turnkey
basis. The order was secured from the Transmission
Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (APTransco).
KEC International Ltd – India
Website:
Going underground?
Cyclone Phailin, which battered the Odisha coast, has left
the power distribution infrastructure in a shambles, said
National Disaster Management Authority vice-chairman
Marri Sasidhar Reddy, anticipating that it would be 15 days
before normal service could be resumed in the area.
He is urging governments to install underground power
cables in coastal areas to minimise the damage. Such
projects can be taken up under the World Bank-funded
National Cyclone Risk Mitigation project.
National Disaster Management Authority – India
Website:
❍ New large orders for KEC