Burnpur (West Bengal), July 30 (IANS): Steel Authority of India Limited's IISCO Steel Plant dispatched its first export consignment of 45 wagons of steel blooms to Nepal on Friday, an official said.

The consignment, amounting to 2,764 tonnes in volume, was flagged off from the West Yard in the plant.

The consignment would help in the urgent rehabilitation work needed by the neighbouring nation following the recent massive earthquake.

The blooms will be used for rolling out quake-resistant TMT bars. The steel blooms dispatched during the day comprise the first of the two consignments to be exported to Nepal.

The second consignment will be dispatched in the first week of August, the release said.

The total order volume is of two rakes totalling 5,500 tonnes.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the modernised and expanded IISCO Steel Plant to the nation. The plant has tripled its hot metal capacity from 0.85 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 2.9 MTPA.

Earlier, SAIL had donated approximately 50 tonnes of GC Sheets to Nepal for rehabilitation work through the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.