A technical session in progress at SNTI Auditorium. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Nov. 10: The two-day international conference on “Refractories for Iron and Steel Industry” began today at SNTI Auditorium.

More than 250 delegates, including 40 from abroad, are participating at the conference organised by Tata Steel in association with Indian Ceramic Society.

Addressing the inaugural session A.K. Chattopadhyay, the joint managing director of Tata Refractories, dwelt on the global economic crisis, its causes and its impact on refractory industry.

“The current economic environment is turbulent and frightening. This has come from consequential exuberance of greed and failure to acknowledge the complexities of financial instruments,” said Chattopadhyay.

He claimed that India can even gain from the present slowdown.

“In a country like India we are going to gain in two ways from the present crisis. We might grow at the rate of 8 per cent but we will still be one of fastest growing economies in the world, thanks to Reserve Bank of India for relative insulation,” he said.

“Secondly, the crisis would hold seeds to great opportunity. Wall Street giants have fallen and there is a vacuum. The Indian financial sector with its new found confidence can fill this gap. There is still a lot of liquidity available outside the US and UK, particularly in west Asia. It is expected that focusing on few parameters would be beneficial for them,” claimed Chattopadhyay.

He also elaborated on the growth prospects of refractories in the present situation.

T.V. Prasad, the guest of honour, in his address appreciated the huge participation at the conference and discussed important issues related to globalisation of refractories technology and research.

Experts from steel industry and engineers from refractory companies from across the globe would be sharing their thought at the second day of the conference.

Organisers said refractories play a significant role in many core sector industries like iron and steel, which alone accounts for consumption of nearly 70 per cent of the total refractories produced.

During the technical sessions, 45 papers were presented on various fields of application related to refractories for iron and steel industry.

Refractory manufacturers also put up their kiosks at the conference where they exhibited their new technonlogical developments and products.

Professors and students from eminent educational institutes like IIT and NITs also participating at the conference.