"It has become imperative for us as demands in high steel consuming development sectors like construction of new power projects, dams and even roads and bridges have stagnated due to low fund allocations for the sectors," said a senior official of the government-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) which enjoys more than 30 per cent of the country's market share for the construction segment.

Moreover, there is a slowdown in the engineering industry, particularly the auto industry. Hence, steel makers have to concentrate more on the general construction sector which continues to offer a steady offtake, he said.

In view of this the Institute for Steel Development and Growth, jointly promoted and established by major steel producers and the union government, will be holding a series offour workshops in Calcutta (November 25), Hyderabad (November 27), Mumbai (November 30) and Delhi (December 2).

The workshops are being cosponsored by the Institution of Engineers, The Institution of Architects, the Institution of Bridge Engineers and the Builders Association of India. The main objective and focus of these workshops will be "to evolve a strategy and prepare an action plan for the next three years with a view to develop and promote steel intensive construction in India through involvement of designers, fabricators, consultants and builders."

"These workshops are only the beginning to change the mindset," said RK Prasannan, development commissioner of iron and steel. "In the long run we need to influence the curriculum of premier institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, schools of architecture and civil engineering colleges. In these curriculum more emphasis has to be given on steel intensive design and construction practices," he said.

It is estimated that the constructionindustry absorbs over 10 million tonnes of steel annually -- mostly bars and rods, structurals and galvanised sheets. An estimated 55 per cent of the market share of the steel for the construction industry is held by the secondary sector. It has a very high market share in items like bars and rods, light structurals and sheets.

Although items like bars and rods have been a major preserve of the rerollers, the market share of secondary producers for sheets has increased with the entry of new players like Ispat, Jindal Vijaynagar and Essar. The new units have the advantage of sales tax exemption. They also have the latest technology and they are located close to the markets which demands lower freights.

Vizag-based Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd is gradually increasing its presence in this sector and increasing production. At present, it has a market share of little over of five per cent in this sector which is just around the market share of Tata Iron & Steel Company. Burnpur-based Indian Iron and Steel Co alsocontributes marginally to this sector.

Meanwhile, SAIL, the major player in this sector, has drawn up plans to retain its market leadership. It has, for the first time in the country, come up with thermo-mechanically treated bars. These are extra high strength reinforcing bars which eliminate any form of cold twisting.

The development was a must for SAIL, said an official of the steel major, as the rerollers with their low overheads were taking over markets initially for plain rounds, and later for twisted bars. Moreover, the major producers have to spend substantially for quality control and assurance, which many of the rerollers can ignore as their customers, requiring steel in small quantities, do not insist on quality certification, he pointed out.

As a part of their modernisation, SAIL's Durgapur and Bhilai steel plants introduced the thermax process in their merchant and wire rod mills. In this process, the steel bars receive a short intensive cooling as they pass through the thermax water coolingsystem after the last rolling stand. The reduction in temperature converts the surface layer of the steel bar to a hardened structure. This phase of intensive cooling is followed by further cooling in the atmosphere.

These TMT bars have been further improved with corrosion resistant qualities and is particularly suitable for use in coastal and humid conditions. They also offer 14-20 per cent savings in steel usage.

SAIL is also making continuous efforts to improve SAILMA micro-alloys developed by its Ranchi-based Research & Development Centre, which is already gaining popularity as high strength material, the official said.Corrosion resistant SAILCOR plates is already popular. Its galvanised sheets are now being available with increasing hardness.

Stainless steel is also finding higher applications in the construction industry. It is now being used in facades and for roofing, doors, windows, interiors etc. Nearly 400 tonnes of Salem stainless steel was used in the twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, hesaid.

In the more developed countries the volume of steel being used in multi-storey structures has increased enormously. In UK, for example, the share of steel in such buildings has gone up from 30 per cent in 1982 to 62 per cent in 1993. In India, although at present steel consumption in construction sector is around 19 per cent, a rising trend is perceptible, said RK Prasannan.