Hirakud-FRP Plant, located in Sambalpur district, Odisha, about 325km from Bhubaneswar, has one of the most sophisticated rolling mills in the country. It specialises in thin-gauge tight tolerance products. Spread over 50 acres land, this plant was conceived on the joint evaluation of the Hindalco and Novelis teams in April 2009. It was followed by extensive discussions held from April to September 2009 to finalise technical issues. The project got management approval in September 2009. Civil work for the plant started in September 2010. Hot commissioning of the plant began in October 2012, and commercial production began in April 2013. Hirakud FRP is a low-cost world-class rolling mill complex with a capacity of 135 KT per annum.
Currently, Hirakud FRP produces about 22% of the total rolled products of Hindalco. Our products include foil stock (for making foil), closure stock (for bottle caps), fan blade stock, electronic panel stock (for making panel body), and other sheet and coils required by the electrical, air conditioning, consumer durables and household sectors. This plant was conceived to cater to the can stock demand in Asian Market. This product is under development.
Hirakud FRP has been set-up primarily by relocating and modernising Novelis’ Rogerstone plant assets; it also includes new cold mill and other new balancing equipment to enhance the product capability.
Plant power is fed by 132KV supply; it draws approximately 85% from our own captive power plant under an open access arrangement. The remaining 15% is grid supply. Water is sourced from the river Mahanadi through CPP.
Major equipment in the plant includes scalpers, soaking pits, hot mill, cold mill, annealers, roll grinders, finishing and packing equipment, along with other auxiliary and ancillary equipment. The Hirakud FRP project is the first of its kind and the largest tandem aluminium rolling mill in India. This project, which involved relocation of some equipment from a closed facility of Novelis, will be the first and the only facility that will have the capability to produce can body stock in India. This facility will take Hindalco’s FRP play to a higher plateau in terms of capability and profitability in the coming years. It is expected to create a formidable combination of Novelis’ technology and Indian cost advantages sourcing metal from Hirakud smelter.
The successful start-up of this mill at Hirakud has become an important milestone for country’s aluminium sector. This has paved the way for an establishment of a “low-cost, high-technology FRP centre” which will help compete with Imports (from China & others) in high-end products, drive market growth with a wider product portfolio, and cater the growing CBS demand, thus enabling the business to foray into a new geography and providing long-term business benefits while boosting the image of the Group.
Hindalco awarded two ASI certifications