Madhav KRG Group, a leading steel manufacturing company, commissioned Asia’s first-ever Continuous Galvanized Rebar (CGR) manufacturing facility on Monday.
The plant located near Gobindgarh in Punjab, will produce value-added CGR rebars for higher life and low maintenance of infrastructure to provide significant cost savings compared to other corrosion resistant rebar systems. It offers on-site formability of the finished product, superior corrosion resistance in concrete at a price cheaper than other corrosion resistant rebar such as epoxy coating and CRS (corrosion resistant steel) rebar.
With an annual capacity of over 30,000 tonnes, the plant will manufacture Zncoat Tempcore TMT Bars under the brand name Jyoti. It will apply CGR technology for the first time in Asia which will enhance the life span of the rebars thereby reducing the overall maintenance cost.
Sudhir Goyal, Managing Director, Madhav KRG Group, said unlike painting and epoxy which are solely barrier-type coatings, CGRs are known to provide superior corrosion protection which enhances the lifecycle of the underlying steel.
Inaugurating the plant virtually, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Steel, Petroleum and Natural Gas, said as the country is on its way to large-scale infrastructure expansions, use of galvanised rebar in construction is set to rise.
The new CGR facility will further increase the usage of zinc in the steel industry and will support the much awaited need of supplying galvanized rebar in the construction industry, he said.
Sunil Duggal, Chief Executive Officer, Vedanta and Hindustan Zinc, said in the last ten years, Indian zinc demand grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 4-5 per cent but usage of galvanised rebars and especially CGRs has been limited despite the fact that it bonds on par with concrete than uncoated rebar.