Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India’s leading engineering, manufacturing & construction firm have formed a joint venture company to produce special steels and ultra heavy forgings.
The new facility to be set up in Hazira, Surat, would significantly increase India’s capabilities in manufacturing critical components for the nuclear power industry.
The facility will have a dedicated steel melt shop producing ingots weighing up to 600MT each, and a heavy forge shop equipped with a forging press which will be amongst the largest in the world. The JV will supply finished forgings for nuclear reactors, pressurizers & steam generators, in addition to heavy forgings for critical equipment in the hydrocarbon sector, as well as for thermal power plants.
Indigenous manufacture of forgings will close a critical gap in Indian industry’s capability to produce equipment for nuclear, thermal power and hydrocarbon plants. It will enable significant reduction in cycle times. Considering the thrust on infrastructure growth in India, and the global nuclear renaissance, the market potential for such forgings is expected to remain strong over the long term.
Mr. A. M. Naik, chairman & managing director of L&T, said: “This JV will place India amongst the few countries in the world capable of producing nuclear grade heavy forgings. When combined with the established facilities at Hazira, this venture will form part of a fully integrated high technology manufacturing complex. NPCIL has been a valued customer for our nuclear plant systems and equipment. This joint venture will add a new dimension to our long standing relationship.”
The very heavy forging capacity in operation today is in Japan (Japan Steel Works), China (China First Heavy Industries) and Russia (OMX Izhora). New capacity is being built by JSW and in South Korea (Doosan), France (Le Creusot) and is planned in the UK (Sheffield Forgemasters).
Dr. S. K. Jain, chairman & managing director NPCIL & BHAVINI said: “The joint venture will be a major strategic step towards achieving the target of 20GW of nuclear power by 2020 and 63GW by 2032. It will accelerate NPCIL’s efforts for localization of LWR technologies and will open up possibilities for export of critical nuclear equipment.”
