Indian steel firm plans new desalination plant

Indian state-run steel firm Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) is planning to set up a desalination plant to make up for the shortfall in water supply to its Visakhapatnam steel plant (VSP) on the country’s east coast and become self-reliant in water.

RINL has been reported as aiming to desalinate seawater at a rate of around 50 Ml/d from its proposed desalination plant. The company said that currently VSP requires around 175-200 Ml/d, but the supply from the state government sources was only around 125 Ml/d.

Water is mainly used in the steel plant for the cooling system used in the plant’s Linz-Donawitz converter blast furnace, for producing slag granulation and in the cooling system for the rolling mills used in manufacturing steel products. Also, water supply is required for power generation at VSP’s power plant.