DSP GETS ISO 9001:2000 FOR THE ENTIRE PLANT

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Durgapur Steel Plant of the Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), a public sector unit of the Steel Ministry has achieved ISO:9001:2000 for it's primary areas comprising Raw Materials Handling Plant, Sinter Plant, Coke Ovens and Coal Chemicals, Blast Furnaces and Steel Melting Shop. The Rolling Mills complex of the plant comprising blooming and billet mills, section mill, merchant mill, skelp mill and wheel and axle plant, which were already certified to the earlier version of the standard were also upgraded to the revised ISO 9001:2000. With this all the production facilities of DSP including the important support services have been covered under ISO 9001:2000 quality management system. It is an important milestone in the plant's journey towards excellence.

DSP is set to achieve its first net profit in the current year after almost two decades. The plant made cash profit in the previous three successive years. It enhanced its export performance substantially in the current fiscal. While the plant exported 1.19 lakh tonnes of steel in the previous fiscal, this year the plant has already exported over 86,000 tonnes in the first four months earning over Rs. 100 crores in foreign exchange. It exported 11,326 tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year. The exports for the month of July, 2003 rose to 20,993 tonnes. DSP, which is a long products plant, mainly exported billets to Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Phillipines earning over Rs. 140 crores last year.