Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) is the largest and main supplier of steel for constructing country’s longest bridge ‘Dhola-Sadiya’ which is built on river Lohit in Assam. SAIL has supplied around 90% or around 30,000 tonnes of steel, including TMT, Structurals and Plates, for this bridge which will connect the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The product mix offered by SAIL was one of the major criteria for selection of the company for this prestigious project. The construction of this 9.15-km-long bridge began in 2011 under public private partnership. This bridge is 3.55 kilometers longer than Mumbai’s Bandra-Worli Sea Link, making it the longest bridge in India.
SAIL is supplying steel for several vital projects in country’s north-eastern region. Apart from the Dhola-Sadiya bridge, SAIL steel has also been used for constructing the Bogibeel Rail-cum-Road bridge, several power plants including 750 MW power plant of NTPC & 600 MW Kameng Hydro-electric project, Trans Arunachal highway etc. which all are very important projects for the region. SAIL has identified specific focus areas in the North-eastern region for increasing its presence and market share and has adopted a structured approach to widen its footprints. Supplying steel to remote areas of NE, tapping the high potential rural sector of the region, exploring the government’s thrust to improve the nation’s connectivity with North-east – all prominently figure on the company’s priority list. Recently SAIL has appointed a General Manager to look after steel marketing in this area.
Becoming part of projects of such national importance and value is also a testimony to nation’s trust on SAIL steel. SAIL is now in a position to offer better and more value-added steel for such projects as it is almost completing its balance modernization. SAIL’s value added production as a percentage of saleable steel will cross 50 per cent after the completion of this modernization.