WCA September 2019

India Insight

Safety moves The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) may soon propose an Indian standard for fire-survival cables. Most short-circuits and electrical fires are caused by melting cables and currently there are no standards to be followed for fire-survival cables in India. The move is important against the backdrop of heightened awareness around fire safety since the reports of several deaths in recent accidents. “Presently the domestic industry is benchmarking itself to the British Standard BS 7846 for fire-survival cables,” said said Sanjeev Ranjan, managing director at the International Copper Association. “These cables are supposed to withstand temperatures up to 950°C for at least three hours. This is to ensure that elevators and fire pumps are operational to ensure a safe passage for inhabitants. “The BIS is in the process of standardising parameters for fire-survival cables and it is likely to complete this in the next six months. Since copper has a melting point of 1,085°C, it will be mandatory for these cables to have copper,” he added. Bureau of Indian Standards – India Website : www.bis.gov.in International Copper Association – USA Website : www.copperalliance.org Overhead cable issues Since the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) took issue with telecom and Internet service providers over data cables in Bengaluru, the state government has been working on a new policy to assist all stakeholders. The BBMP, with the help of the police, removed overhead cables in an area occupied by numerous IT companies, deeming the cables illegal. The action affected data connectivity in the IT hub of Whitefield. The new policy will recognise overhead cables, currently banned within BBMP limits, as an option for service providers. Work on drafting the policy started after a meeting of the Urban Development Department (UDD) in May to address issues related to optical fibre cable. The new policy will allow cable operators to install overhead cables in areas where they are required, such as providing Internet connection to individual houses. “The policy will also clearly define authorised and unauthorised cables,” an official said, adding that government agencies and service providers have often disputed what constitutes “unauthorised” cables. However, the challenge for the authorities is to ensure telecom providers do not install overhead cables

everywhere; citizen activists have urged the BBMP to install smart poles at regular intervals to develop a structured cable network. “We are deliberating on the smart pole concept. There is also an option to convert existing BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) poles belonging to the BBMP to [install] fibre cables, as BESCOM cables are moving underground,” said Dharma Prasad, BBMP’s executive engineer (OFC). Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike – India Website : www.bbmp.gov.in Pellet deal India’s state-controlled KIOCL has reached an initial agreement to supply high-grade iron ore pellet to Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Steel. Emirates Steel has the capacity to produce 3.5 million tons of rebar, wire rod and heavy sections per year. Most Middle East steel companies source iron ore pellet from within the region. The largest supplier is Bahrain Steel, which has the capacity to produce 11 million tons per year of high-grade pellet. KIOCL is moving its pellet exports away from China to other regions, such as the Middle East, Japan and South Korea, because of weaker prices of low-alumina pellet in the Chinese market. KIOCL Ltd – India Website : www.kioclltd.in Two lines for Ramesh Mario Frigerio, the wire and rope machinery division of MFL Group, has successfully installed two separate lines for induction tempered wire preparation at Ramesh Wire Mesh Industries, India. The first installation includes a drawing section with rod preparation, eddy current defect detector, two-block drawing step and smooth coiling of wire, avoiding any unnecessary contact with the wire itself. The second has provided Ramesh with a treatment line with payoff, a cleaning unit and two sets of pinch rollers, with one before and one after the treatment section to control and keep the wire speed and the pull constant in the line. There are hardening furnace and cooling, a tempering furnace and cooling added between the two pinch rollers. After the second pinch roller the line includes a complete eddy current system for longitudinal and vertical defect detection, a lubrification unit and a vertical axe coil take-up. Mario Frigerio – Italy Website : www.mflgroup.com Ramesh Wire Mesh Industries – India

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