Bokaro: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) chairperson and managing director Ashok Kumar Panda on Thursday paid a courtesy visit to chief minister Hemant Soren at his residential office on Kanke Road in Ranchi.The meeting marked Panda’s first formal interaction with Hemant after taking charge as CMD of the country’s largest state-owned steel producer on May 9.Chief secretary Avinash Kumar was present at the meeting. Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) director in-charge Priya Ranjan, executive director (mines) V Manwati and other senior officials also attended, BSL spokesperson Manikant Dhan said.The officials exchanged greetings and discussed matters related to Jharkhand’s industrial development, including growth in the mining and steel sectors.The meeting assumes significance amid SAIL’s Rs 15,000-crore expansion of BSL. The project aims to increase the plant’s crude steel capacity from 5.25 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 7.55 MTPA through the installation of a 4,500-cubic-metre blast furnace and advanced steelmaking and rolling facilities.SAIL is also developing a 258-km slurry pipeline to transport iron ore from its captive mines at Gua and Bolani to Bokaro via Jamda. The pipeline will carry around 8.3 million tonnes of ore annually, reducing BSL’s dependence on railway rakes and cutting logistics costs.The projects are expected to strengthen BSL’s raw-material security and operational efficiency while supporting SAIL’s broader expansion plans.
The meeting marked Ashok Kumar Panda’s first formal interaction with CM Hemant Soren after taking charge as CMD
