Mumbai: Tata BlueScope Steel Limited, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and Australia''s BlueScope Steel, has inaugurated its first roll-forming and pre-engineered building facility near the IT Park at Hinjewadi, Pune. The company also unveiled its new corporate identity, aimed at brand development in the fast emerging construction market.

The new facility will manufacture, design and supply of a range of pre-engineered buildings and steel building solutions.

"This facility reaffirms our commitment that Tata BlueScope Steel will create value in the steel business. The building industry is experiencing rapid growth and it is a great opportunity to showcase our range of product and solutions to the construction industry. In doing so, this boosts the consumption of steel in this region," said B Muthuraman, managing director, Tata Steel.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Kathryn Fagg, chairperson of Tata BlueScope Steel and BlueScope Steel''s president Asia, said, "This is the first demonstration of the powerful partnership between, BlueScope Steel and Tata Steel and we are proud to be part of this. This state-of-the-art manufacturing facility incorporates a leading edge building design centre and will offer premium quality branded steel products to the building and construction markets of India and South Asia".

The first manufacturing facility of Tata BlueScope Steel, the Pune facility will manufacture beams, columns, purlins, and other roofing and wall cladding components for pre-engineered metal buildings and other building solutions. The unit will have testing facilities and a design centre with a fully staffed engineering team that will create new concepts, products and applications of steel in buildings, said Chetan Tolia, managing director, Tata BlueScope Steel.

Tata BlueScope Steel will have three roll-forming and pre-engineered building facilities in India. While the Pune facility will serve the western region, the Sriperumbudur (Chennai) and Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) units, which are under construction, will serve markets in the south and north respectively.

Apart from the three facilities, the company is constructing a state-of-the-art metallic coating and painting facility at Jamshedpur, in Jharkand. The new facility will have an annual metallic coating capacity of 250,000 tonnes and paint line capacity of 150,000 tonnes.

Tata BlueScope Steel will offer a comprehensive range of branded steel products for building and construction applications, including the premium metallic coated and painted steels, a range of steel building solutions and pre-engineered metal building systems.

Tata BlueScope Steel will focus on developing new markets and applications for coated steels in the fast-growing construction market of India and other South Asian countries.

Tata BlueScope Steel will operate in the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) member countries comprising India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.