L&T Special Steels and Special Forgings (LTSSHF), a joint venture of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and NPCIL, crossed  an important milestone with the manufacture of heavy and complex forgings for the Steam Generator (SG) of the 700 MWe Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). "This landmark achievement affirms, for the first time, India's indigenous capability to make all types of forgings for the PHWR nuclear program of the Indian government. It assumes special significance in the light of the 'Make in India' drive by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi."

A flag-off ceremony was held for the despatch of the complex primary head and cone shell, on Sept. 23, 2015 at the Steel making & Forging Facility of LTSSHF at Hazira, near Surat. It was attended by top management personnel from Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and L&T.

"This achievement has been a culmination of a joint collaborative and persistent technology development effort with extensive trials and learning to achieve nuclear grade quality. Through this indigenous capability build-up, LTSSHF has geared itself for the execution of the future bulk orders in significantly reduced time schedule thus vindicating the vision of founders of this facility towards ensuring nation’s self-reliance in critical technologies," the company said.

LTSSHF is a joint venture of L&T and NPCIL. It has a 65000 sq. metre integrated facility to meet the heavy forging requirements of the critical sectors. The facility has already produced many 'firsts' in India by substituting the imports of such heavy and complex forgings. It is now geared up to take up similar complex and heavy forgings for the nuclear industry.

Shares of Larsen & Toubro gained Rs 17.3, or 1.18%, to settle at Rs 1,484. The total volume of shares traded was 159,008 at the BSE (Thursday).