Twenty-one iron and steel plants, having capacity of 0.5 million tonnes a year and above, are up for an independent “green” rating. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based NGO, has completed a survey of the country’s top steel-sector players for the environmental ratings.
The results of the survey, conducted over around one year and nine months, and the rating details will be announced next month. The centre would also release a 200-page book on the environment status of the domestic steel sector on May 17.
Mr Umashankar S., the CSE programme manager for steel sector survey, told Business Line that the survey included relatively smaller plants as well as the large integrated manufacturing units, but left the captive mines out of its ambit.
“Iron ore and flux mining, a sector in itself, would be dealt with in another study report in future,” he added. The survey included all those units which met capacity criterion in the financial year of 2009-10.
The ratings are based on life-cycle analysis using more than 150 parameters, the CSE official said. The green rating project team of CSE inspected the plants and met local stakeholders to get the low-down view. “We have also drawn on media reports on the plants,” Mr Umashankar said.
State-promoted steel plants included five plants of SAIL in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, Vizag Steel of RINL and Neelachal Ispat Ltd at Kalinganagar in Odisha.
The CSE survey covered private facilities such as Jamshedpur plant of Tata Steel, Vijaynagar unit of JSW Steel, Hazira plant of Essar, Raigarh unit of Jindal Steel & Power, JSW Ispat’s Dovi plant, Monnet Ispat’s Raigarh unit, Visa Steel’s Kalinganagar plant and Jai Balaji’s Durgapur unit.
The Central Pollution Control Board categorised steel sector as one of the most polluting sector among 17 identified sectors. The CSE had earlier published green ratings and surveys on the pulp & paper, automobile, chlor-alkali and cement sectors.
