Indian steel and energy company Jindal Steel and Power Limited says it will ship head hardened rails – a specialty finished steel product – to Iran. The unique product which has applications in tracks for metro rails and high speed bullet trains is manufactured by the company at its Raigarh steel mill.
“JSPL is producing the world’s longest rail at its Raigarh factory. We have bagged an order from Iran to supply 1.5 million tons of head hardened rails over a period of one and a half years. The first consignment would be loaded shortly,” a senior company executive was quoted by Indian English-language daily newspaper Business Standard as saying.
The rails to be exported to Iran are of 18-m length. JSPL is shipping rails through the Gangavaram port in Andhra Pradesh.
Export of rails by Indian steel companies to Iran is seen as part of the pact between the two countries to develop railway and other infrastructure at the strategic Chabahar Port in the south of Iran. New Delhi-based engineering and construction company Ircon International Limited is also building a rail line at Chabahar to move goods up to Afghanistan.
JSPL is also manufacturing the world’s longest rail tracks, measuring 265 meters, which are being supplied for the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited, run by India’s Ministry of Railways. The steel company has already supplied 35,000 tons of rails for DFCCIL, including 10,000 tons this year.
Apart from this, JSPL is supplying 13-metre rails to private railway sidings and special purpose vehicles for developing railway tracks.
Long rails from JSPL help in achieving big reductions in welded joints, providing enhanced safety, cost reduction and travel comfort. JSPL is also a preferred supplier for crane rails which find widespread usage in electric overhead travelling cranes as well as for gantry crane operations.
