The story
Rourkela Steel Plant, built with German collaboration, became India's first integrated steel plant in the public sector when its first blast furnace was lit in 1959. Iron ore and limestone from Sundargarh and nearby Keonjhar made the site ideal. Engineering, foundry and fabrication units grew around the plant to supply spares and services.
In numbers
The Sundargarh engineering cluster (engineering, foundry, lathe and fabrication) had 15 functional units, a turnover of Rs. 60 crore and employment of about 2,000.
Brief Industrial Profile of Sundargarh District, MSME-DI Cuttack, Ministry of MSME · 2012
Ways in for a newcomer
- Spares and job-work machining for the steel plant
- Industrial maintenance and fabrication contracts
- Steel trading and downstream products (wire, tubes)
Problems the cluster faces
- Dependence on one big buyer
- Delayed payments
- Competition from large outside contractors
Businesses to start here
Steel Castings (Induction Furnace Foundry) →CNC Engineering Workshop (Precision Job Work) →Heavy Fabrication (Tanks, Pressure Vessels, Piping) →Engineering Workshop (Job Work and Repairs) →Fire Clay Refractory Bricks and Blocks →