October 2020 marked a milestone for the core team at Adhunik Steel, the integrated steel plant located at Chadrihariharpur near Rourkela in Odisha. In what has been a challenging year for many across the world, October unveiled the highly-anticipated result of the Adhunik team’s efforts to restart the site, which is equipped with a sponge iron facility, blast furnace, and electric arc furnace (EAF) steel making capability with 0.5mtpa capacity, ferro–alloy plant and a 34MW captive power plant.

The site’s impressive output today belies a remarkable transformation achieved within record turnaround time. Roll back the clock just six months: the site was in a dire state and in need of rescuing after the previous owner fell into administration.

Following the acquisition of the Adhunik Metaliks Ltd and Zion Steel businesses in February 2020, the core team working on Adhunik was responsible for starting up the closed plant and business, bridging the trust gap in the organisation given the plant’s distressed history, and for inspiring the people in the face of flagging morale – all amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We faced a myriad of challenges,” comments Chief HR Officer at LIBERTY, Anil Gole, led by Managing Director of Adhunik, Uday Gupta, and guided by Chairman Sanjeev Gupta’s vision. “The plant was neglected for two years, so it was severely dilapidated and rusted and in need of extensive maintenance and repairs. The building structure and walkways were unsafe and the roofing sheet was perforated. There was no water supply or power and the vegetation surrounding the plant was so overgrown that we were even cautious of stepping on poisonous snakes to access the site.”

The team had the considerable task of building the infrastructure from ground-up, including guest houses, offices, transportation, medical facilities, fire tenders, and canteen facilities. In addition to the physical repairs, the team navigated a complex political backdrop, multiple unions, and local community dynamics to obtain necessary permissions.

Anil says, “The CTO, along with the team, planned a phased intake of more than 1000 people on the deemed roll of the company as we transit from repairs to production start-up over a period of six to eight months. Given the financial distress that the Adhunik employees encountered, our company approached the issue with compassion and empathy: restoring full salary for people who were deployed in the plant, while providing 50% salary to people waiting to join. A quadripartite agreement to this effect was signed between the Management, Multiple Workmen Unions and the concerned Government Authority (District Labour Commissioner).”

Safety, already a paramount consideration, gained added significance in light of the pandemic. The team implemented robust COVID-19 guidelines and procedures with the help of external agencies and introduced new HR policies in line with best business practices. A compulsory quarantine period preceded all recruitment and onboarding. Other obstacles included contending with the ramifications of lockdown on procurement of materials for repairs and maintenance (amidst supply chain slowdown) and the shortage of skilled contract workers due to ceasing of labour movements from neighboring states.

The team forged ahead despite numerous challenges and, by June 2020, managed to hire all critical positions and complete the required infrastructure activities. In October 2020 – just six months after acquisition – the rescued plant restarted production, having restored nearly 1500 jobs.

As a result of extensive renovations and meticulous housekeeping, new and safe structures stand in the place of formerly rusted facilities. The fully operational site now produces alloy steel products for the automotive, energy, engineering and oil & gas sectors, in addition to participating in the commodity market of sponge iron and billets. With plans to transition to GREENSTEEL and integrate into LIBERTY STEEL Group, this is just the start of Adhunik Steel’s promising journey.

Today, the team looks back with pride at the considerable feat they have achieved – particularly considering the added complexity of the pandemic – and recognize it as a testament to the collaborative spirit of the Adhunik team.

Here’s a look at the impressive transformation: