IISCO Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Limited, located at Burnpur in Asansol, is an integrated steel plant with an installed capacity of producing 2.5 million tonnes of liquid steel. The turbulent history of the plant, starting from its pioneering days, has found it a place in industrial history.
It was the second integrated steel plant, after Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (TISCO) at Jamshedpur, to come up in India and for many years, these two were the only steel plants in the country. It has rich history that goes back to 1870, the days when James Erskine pioneered the production of iron in the country, nearby Kulti. Modern metallurgy was introduced to India at Kulti with the setting up of the first blast furnace using coal instead of charcoal.