Why in news?

• The Diamond City of India, Surat in Gujarat became India’s first city to get a road that is made out of steel waste (1st ever ‘steel slag ‘road) at Hazira, Surat .
• The road was constructed by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India with CSIR India (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) & CRRI (Central Road Research Institute) New Delhi along with the support of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
• The project will be constructed under the initiative of the Waste to Wealth and Clean India Campaign.
• Laid in the Hazira Industrial Area, the road consists of 100% processed steel slag.
• The 6-lane 1-kilometer long road is an experimental project, which is constructed to solve the waste material issue. The thickness of the road has been reduced by 30%.
• The processed steel slag has the great potential for sustainable products and works as a replacement for natural construction material.
• Steel slag is a type of waste from the Iron & Steel Industry but it has shown potential for use as a raw mix component up to 5-10% in the construction products.
• The Ministry of Steel has also constituted a Task Force for promotion and utilization of Iron and Steel Slag.