Rourkela, Jan. 7: The Rs 12,000 crore modernisation project, which had recently been completed, has started  to pay dividends to the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP).

The new plate mill, which has been set up during the second modernisation, has, for the first time, produced and despatched plates of 3,500 millimetres.

The RSP has bagged an order from Anand-based GMM Pfaudler Ltd to supply 600 tonnes of plates. The new plate mill has developed and despatched the plates with the help of the Production Planning Control, Research and Control Lab and the Central Marketing Organisation. The first consignment of plates was dispatched through trailers on December 30. The entire quantity will be dispatched by this month.

An RSP official said: “We have developed this product in our new plant. The plate mill, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, can produce a wide range of plates that meet international standards.”