The Indian steel company BMM Ispat is to commission a new merchant bar mill for its Hospet production location in Karnataka state, southern India.


Siemens VAI Metals Technologies is to supply the mill which will have an annual capacity of 850kt of merchant bar steel products. It is scheduled to start up at the end of 2013.

BMM Ispat Ltd., the second largest steel company in the state of Karnataka, and has embarked upon capacity addition of 2Mt/y to the existing facilities at Hospet. The iron ore used stems from the group company's own mines in the region.

With the bar rolling mill, the company is expanding its production capacities for structural steels. The new plant is designed to produce a wide range of end products, including reinforcing steels, round bars, flat and square bars, angles and channel sections. Low and medium-carbon or low-alloy steel grades as well as spring and free cutting steel can be processed.

Siemens is supplying the complete mechanical and electrical equipment of the rolling line and the cooling zone as well as systems for bundling and tying the bars produced.

The rolling line will include a six-stand roughing mill in an H-V arrangement including the upstream equipment for loading and unloading the billet, reheating furnaces and also a six-stand intermediate and eight-stand finishing mill, both in an H-V-C arrangement.

The stands of the intermediate and finishing mills will be equipped with quick-change fixtures, while after the finishing mill there will also be a quenching system. The finishing mill and the 102m -long cooling bed will be linked by two delivery systems.

The rolling mill will be supplemented by a finishing shop complete with machines for straightening, bundling, stacking and strapping the rolling stock. Diverse shear systems along the rolling line and in the cooling zone will round off the mechanical equipment. The scope of supply will also include process automation (level 2), mechatronic components, the motor control centre and also speed-controlled drive systems for the main and secondary drives including all motors.

Siemens is also responsible for supervising installation and commissioning and for training the customer's personnel.

The project will be realized jointly by Siemens Metals Technologies Italy and Morgan Construction Company India Pvt Ltd (a Siemens VAI Business).