The contracts will provide two of the largest Indian steel companies, Jindal Steel and Essar Steel, with cutting edge large scale plate rolling mills, enabling them to go head-to-head with China in the production of steel plate to feed increasing global demand.

The mills, which will weigh around 540 tons each when fully assembled, will be made in cast sectional housings. Both mills conform to newly developed styles, creating larger plate to reduce the amount of welding required in large scale construction industries such as ship building. Once assembled, they will enable Jindal Steel and Essar Steel to produce metal plate up to 6m wide, compared to a more conventional 3m standard.

Dr Graham Honeyman, Chief Executive at SFIL, said: "It is good to know that British industry is creating engineering products to help India build on its economic growth. India's development in steel production almost mirrors that of China and the supply of these roller mills will close the gap even further."

SFIL produces some of the largest bespoke engineered products in the world with capacity for castings of up to 350 tons and forgings of up to 200 tons

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