New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS): Dalmia-OCL Ltd, the refractory company of the Dalmia Bharat Group, on Monday launched a new refractory line for production of Magnesia Carbon (MgO-C) bricks, widely used in the steel industry, at its plant in Odisha's Rajgangpur.

The launch of the new refractory line is part of the company's strategic initiative on import substitution and aimed to support the government's call for 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

The new facility will have a capacity of 108,000 tonne and cater to the demand of domestic steel manufacturers. Once fully commissioned, it will be India's largest refractory line for production of Magnesia Carbon bricks and promises to cut the nation's import dependence by up to 50 per cent, a company statement said.

The refractory line, which has been set up under Dalmia-OCL's initiative of 'Bharat ki Factory mein Bharat ki Refractory', will come up in 3 phases of 36,000 tonne each. This product is widely consumed by the steel industry and most of the current demand (approximately 300,000 tonne annually) is met through imports.

The initiative aims to localise the production of most refractories and support key customers such as SAIL, Tata Steel, JSW Group, JSPL Group, AMNS etc.

With the launch of the new manufacturing line, the company aims to substitute imports with locally manufactured MgO-C bricks and expects to capture 25 per cent market share. Subsequently, the company plans to export these bricks to Europe and other key steel markets across the globe. The company has made a cumulative investment of Rs 50 crore in the past two years and expects its total refractory business to grow by 50 per cent in the next five years.

Dalmia-OCL also plans to make a cumulative investment of Rs 100 crore in the next five years to boost its domestic manufacturing capacity and align itself to India's vision to become a 300 million tonne steel manufacturing nation by the end of this decade.