New Delhi, July 20, 2023.
Union Minister of State for Steel Sh. Faggan Singh Kulaste, while participating in the industry meet (held on 18th July, 2023) organized under the ‘One Week One Lab’ program of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said that the Steel Slag Road technology of CSIR-CRRI is playing an important role in realising the Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi’s mission of ‘Waste to Wealth’.
The Union Minister informed that India is the second largest steel producing country in the world and about 19 million tonnes of steel slag is generated in the country as a solid waste, which will increase to 60 million tonnes by the year 2030. (About 200 kg of steel slag is generated in one tonne of steel production).
Due to non-availability of efficient disposal methods of steel slag, huge piles of steel slag have come up around the steel plants, which have become a major source of water, air and land pollution. The 1st road made with steel slag road interpretation technology in Surat, Gujarat, has become famous for its technological excellence at national and national level. About one lakh tonnes of steel slag aggregate has been used in its construction, under the technical guidance of CRRI at the Hazira plant of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel. No natural ballast of any kind has been used in the construction of this road.
Border Roads Organization has also constructed a steel slag road in Arunachal Pradesh along with CRRI and Tata Steel on India-China border, having a much longer life than conventional road. Similarly, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has also successfully used this technology in road construction on National Highway-66 (Mumbai-Goa) in collaboration with JSW Steel, under the technical guidance of CRRI.