TESSAR
Steel Ltd (ESL) seems to be keen to get on the right
track with the automotive manufacturers of the country
with a new grade steel that fits their bill for
enhanced fuel efficiency.
And what could be a better way than to get the US
automobile giant, General Motors, to become its
first customer for the newly developed hot-rolled
dual-phase steel coil that was recently developed
at ESL's Hazira plant.
Hot-rolled dual-phase steel is a high-grade steel
designed by reorganising the microstructure of
the material, rendering it stronger and lighter.
This makes it the ideal material in auto engineering,
helping to reduce kerb weights significantly and
to improving vehicle mileages.
The durability of the material also finds takers
in applications that use lightweight and high
tensile materials.
Having designed and developed India's first hot
rolled `dual phase' steel coil, the Hazira-based
steel major has already entered into a supply
agreement with Delphi Automotive Systems Ltd,
which would in turn supply the new grade steel-based
auto components to General Motors in the US. However,
Essar is now keen to turn its eyes closer to home,
given that the Indian automotive market, which
is importing this product, has a size of 50,000
tpa.
"Essar Steel has now become the only Indian
company to commercially supply hot rolled dual
phase steel to our customers across the world.
Currently, the local auto component industry imports
its dual phase steel requirements from international
producers. Also, precision tube manufacturers
undertaking trials on the material have found
it ideally suited for use and this is definitely
a huge opportunity to explore," said Mr Vikram
Amin, Executive Director of ESL.
The product was developed a few weeks ago at
Hazira and ESL is now in the process of tying
up with various automotive manufacturers in the
country. The twin arguments being made by ESL
in its bid to persuade the Indian automotive industry
to make a switchover to the new product is its
property of being lighter in weight, leading to
better fuel efficiency and saving on valuable
foreign exchange.
The $1-billion domestic auto component industry,
one of the fastest growing sectors which is expected
to touch the $5-billion mark by 2008, is seen
as one of the largest consumers for this material.
Domestic auto component manufacturers servicing
international automobile giants currently figure
as one of the largest importers of dual phase
steel in the country.
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CORPORATE