VSP faces ₹4 crore loss per day after blast: Experts

Published 10 June 2026 · local

The suspension of operations at the accident-site of the Continuous Casting Machine (CCM) in the Steel Melting Shop-1 (SMS-1) of the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited

The suspension of operations at the accident-site of the Continuous Casting Machine (CCM) in the Steel Melting Shop-1 (SMS-1) of the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is estimated to cause a direct production revenue loss of approximately ₹4 crore per day. The explosion of a ladle on Monday evening severely damaged Caster-1 (Machine 1) of SMS-1, forcing an indefinite halt to operations. The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant operates with two Steel Melting Shops SMS-1 and SMS-2. Together, they house 10-12 high-capacity continuous casting machines—comprising six machines in each SMS unit—across the steel melting bays to solidify liquid crude steel into intermediate shapes like billets and blooms. Visakhapatnam steel blast claims a ninth life: a father’s last video tells his sons how to live without him Sources at the VSP told The Hindu on Tuesday that on average, a single continuous casting machine at the plant processes roughly 750 tonnes of liquid steel daily under optimal turnaround cycles.

With the current market value of finished commercial-grade steel hovering around ₹50,000 per tonne, the sudden paralysis of this primary casting line means a daily deficit of 750 tonnes in cast steel output, directly translating to the multi-crore revenue drain. “The tragedy is estimated to cause a direct production revenue loss of approximately ₹3.75 crore to ₹4 crore per day, and it may take several days to resume operations at the continuous casting machine,” a source said. “Interestingly, a minor fire mishap had occurred at the SMS-2 casting unit yesterday as well, nearly an hour before the major blast in SMS-1, but it did not come to light as there were no casualties or major damage. However, the SMS-1 incident remains a major catastrophe and is the first such horrific tragedy at the SMS in the history of the steel plant,” a reliable source in the plant told The Hindu on condition of anonimity.

The suspension of operations compounds the severe structural and financial challenges already being faced by the PSU. Beyond the immediate loss of primary steel volumes, the plant management will incur massive compounding financial damage. Superheated crude steel production cannot be abruptly halted across preceding operational stages; any disruption at the casting end forces upstream blast furnaces and basic oxygen converters to drastically throttle their liquid iron output or vent thermal energy. Furthermore, clearing the extensive debris of charred overhead infrastructure and cleaning the hundreds of tonnes of superheated molten metal that spilled onto the shop floor at 1,600° Celsius will require a prolonged shutdown. Technical teams note that cold-setting steel adhering to mechanical actuators, ladle slide gates, and electrical cabling will necessitate tedious physical cutting and comprehensive re-installation before any trial runs can begin.