Union Minister of State Science & Technology and Space Dr Jitendra Singh announced that India has developed the world's latest "Steel Road" technology. He informed that CSIR - Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), New Delhi, which was founded in 1952, has pioneered the development of a revolutionary steel slag road technology which facilitates the large-scale utilization of waste steel slag from steel plants in road construction. 

The minister disclosed that in June 2022, Surat in Gujarat became the first city in the country, or perhaps world, to get a processed steel slag (industrial waste) road built as part of a joint-venture project by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), Union Ministry of Steel, government think-tank NITI Ayog, and Arcelormittal Nippon Steel (AM/NS), at Hazira. 

Dr Jitendra Singh said steel slag technology in paving the roads is in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Waste to Wealth” Mantra. “This innovative technological initiative also addresses the problem of environmental degradation caused by waste steel slag and unsustainable mining and quarrying of natural aggregates. CRRI has developed several key technologies for sustainable utilization of waste materials in road construction,” he said. 

The stretch of six-lane road experimentally paved with slag from AM/NS plant has been shown to resist beating from weather as well as from thousands of heavy trucks, even though the surface is 30 percent shallower than that of roads paved with natural aggregates. The slag is made up of impurities melted out of the ore during the steel-making process. 

The trial, guided by the CSIR-CRRI, suggests that roads built with the abundant waste material mixed with bitumen could be 30% cheaper than conventional paving, and reduce the unsustainable mining of sand and gravel. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) also used steel slag to construct a long-lasting heavy-duty road at Arunachal Pradesh along the India-China border area.  

Dr Jitendra Singh, who visited the Central Road Research Institute, said that the steel slag road not only cost about 30 percent cheaper than conventional bitumen but they are also more durable and resistant to weather vagaries. India is the world's second largest steel producer. For per ton of steel, it produces around 200 kg. Steel slag is generated as solid waste. Steel slag generation in the country is about 19 million tons per annum and expected to reach 60 million tons by 2030. This huge quantity of steel slag is piled up in and around the steel plants as big mounds and becoming the source of air, water, and land pollution. 

The Science & Technology Minister called for more engagement, synergy and pooling of resources between the CRRI, government think-tank NITI Aayog, various Central Ministries including Steel, Road Transport and Highways, Urban Development and Rural Development, NHAI, engineering institutes such as the IITs, NITs and IIITs besides the private sector steel majors such as TATA STEEL, ARCELOR MITTAL NIPPON STEEL INDIA, JSW STEEL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.