A 1.85-km four-lane steel slag road built in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, has received Guinness World Records recognition, marking a major push to use an industrial by-product in road construction instead of natural aggregates.
Jindal Steel Limited constructed the road in collaboration with the CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI), the company said in a statement. Around 2 lakh tonnes of processed steel slag, a waste by-product of steel manufacturing, was used for the project.
The road is the longest reported to have been built exclusively with processed steel slag aggregates. The project replaces conventional natural aggregates used in road construction and is positioned as an example of how steel-making waste can be converted into an infrastructure material.
Naveen Jindal, chairman of Jindal Steel Limited, said the recognition demonstrated how science, technology and industry could convert industrial co-products into resources for nation-building. He also said waste-to-wealth was among the government’s focus areas in support of the circular economy.
Jitendra Singh, Minister of Science and Technology, described the road as a demonstration of India’s ability to translate scientific innovation into practical infrastructure solutions. According to the statement, he said the project showed the potential of indigenous technology to address industrial waste and road-construction challenges.
Steel slag is generated during the production of steel and requires scientific processing before it can be used in construction. The project’s reported use of the material is significant because it links two infrastructure pressures: the demand for aggregates for roads and the growing volume of by-products generated by the steel industry.
The company said scientifically processed steel slag can provide advantages over traditional construction materials. It stated that steel slag roads can be 30 to 40 per cent more cost-effective and can last up to three times longer than standard bitumen roads, potentially reducing repair and maintenance requirements. These performance claims were made in the company’s statement accompanying the recognition.
The material’s strength, according to the statement, makes it suitable for different climate conditions, ranging from coastal regions to rugged terrains. The Raigarh road therefore also serves as a demonstration project for possible use in varied road-building environments, although the supplied report does not provide independent performance data or a comparative maintenance record for the route.
The scale of the potential waste stream is expected to grow with India’s steel capacity. Steel slag generation is projected to reach 60 million tonnes in the next few years as steel plants expand, alongside the country’s stated aim of producing 300 million tonnes of steel by 2030-31.
The Ministry of Steel is promoting the use of steel slag in road construction and is collaborating with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to support wider use of the industrial by-product. The next stage will depend on how the technology is processed, standardised and adopted across road projects beyond the Raigarh demonstration.
