Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Ruchika Chaudhry Govil on Tuesday said that non-usage of LD slag is a growing problem and the industry needs to learn from other countries’ experiences.

Speaking at a conference on 'Promoting Awareness and Usage of Iron & Steel Slag - Ushering in a New Era', organised by FICCI in partnership with Ministry of Steel, Ms Govil said that the government will facilitate in experience sharing.

"If the world is producing LD slag and this waste material has an economic value and is being used by other countries. Instead of inventing the wheel all over again, we need to have information sharing and collaboration. Ministry of Steel will be happy to act as a facilitator," she said.

LD slag, a by-product of a steel making process, is not being used in India unlike the blast furnace slag which is being commercially used in several applications mainly by cement manufacturers.

Govil said that the Indian steel industry is looking at 300 million tonnes capacity by 2030 from the current capacity of about 140 million tonnes and this growth will only increase the production of both blast furnace and LD slag from the current 27 million tonnes and 12 million tonnes per annum, respectively.

"LD slag has posed a problem for us as it is not being used at all. The LD slag has been accumulating over the years," she said, urging the industry to highlight the stumbling blocks and submit their comments invited by a task force constituted to identify usage of slag in the next two weeks.

SK Nirmal, Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress (IRC) said that the IRC has come out with guidelines for usage of iron and steel slag in road projects and that the industry should use the code and give their feedback.

On the absence of a code for usage of LD slag despite some private initiatives in using the slag for road construction in the country, Mr Nirmal said that the IRC needs to ascertain various issues related to volumetric instability, vesicular structure, higher water absorption, high specific gravity, lack of angular structure and environmental impact.

Abhyuday Jindal, Co-Chair, FICCI Steel Committee and Managing Director, Jindal Stainless Ltd said that though India is the second largest producer of steel and stainless steel, importance of steel slag utilization is yet to be realized by the consumption sectors in India.

Pankaj Satija, Chief Regulatory Affairs, Tata Steel Ltd and Co-Chair, FICCI Mining Committee said that iron and steel slag is not a waste, but a co-product and it can be used in different sectors resulting in better resource utilisation and protection of environment.

SMR Prasad, Consultant, Environment Management, JSW Steel Ltd cautioned about the utilisation of steel slag even as he talked about various applications of different types of slags including using it in coastal areas as wave breakers.

Harinand Rai, Director (Technical), Steel Authority of India Ltd said that since efforts to reduce slag production will meet limited success, the industry has to focus on reuse and recycle of slag which is posing a major challenge.