A universal rail mill (URM) built at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore at steel authority of India ltd’s (SAIL) Bhilai steel plant has been unveiled recently.
The commencement of the new facility has enabled SAIL- a Maharatna PSU to begin commercial production of world’s longest single rail of 130 meters from the new URM.

The newly developed URM will now take Bhilai steel plant’s total capacity to produce rails at 2.0 MTPA, which will be the largest rail production capacity in any single location for a plant globally.

Union steel minister Birender Singh lauded SAIL authorities for commencing production from URM. “It is a huge step towards the make in India initiative, where the country is pioneering in production of such quality products. The country needs to be made self-reliant in meeting its specific requirements and products like the longest rails will solidify industry confidence,” he said.

Alongside the URM, which is part of the plant’s modernisation and expansion programme (MEP), a long rail welding complex had also been set with proven technology for world class rail welding. The welding complex is equipped with fully automated flash butt welding machine to weld rail panels of 260-metre length and fully automated long rail handling facility.

This URM complex would equip SAIL to meet Indian railways’ specific demand of 260 metre rails as the new mill is capable of producing 260 m long rail with a single weld and also has the provision to supply welded panels up to 520 m length in future.