Iron ore loading, storage and dispatches of from NMDC’s Chhattisgarh mines have been suspended on recent order by state government, as per sources. However, mining operations have remain uninterrupted. As per reports, owing to issues of requirement of storage license at the loading plants of the NMDC’s Chhattisgarh mines, loading has been stopped.
What is the matter all about ? In CY13, Chhattisgarh state govt. had issued a demand notice levying storage fee for the loading plants of the iron ore mines of the NMDC Ltd as per provisions of Chhattisgarh Mineral (Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2009.
Based on the demand notice issued by the State Government, NMDC paid the demand amount and afterwards filed a Writ Petition in the Hon’ble High Court at Bilaspur challenging the demand notice.
After hearing both the parties, Hon’ble High Court held that demand notice issued by the Chhattisgarh state government levying storage fee was without jurisdiction and directed the State government to refund back the storage license fee collected from the NMDC.
In compliance to the above order, state government had adjusted the amount deposited by the NMDC against the royalty amount payable.
Subsequently, state government has filed a review petition on the order passed by the Hon’ble High Court and presently matter is subjudice.
Expected impact – If market sources are to be believed, this issue of iron ore storage licenses may not continue for quite a longer time. However dispatches from Chhattisgarh mines are expected to remain suspended for a couple of days, SteelMint learned from its sources. Mining operations continue to remain undisturbed.
NMDC produced 31.9 MnT iron ore in FY20 out of which nearly 24.9 MnT was produced from its Chhattisgarh mines. Miner’s total iron ore sales in FY20 amounted to 31.5 MnT out of which 24.5 MnT was sold from Chhattisgarh mines.
NMDC is India’s largest iron ore miner and is planning to expand its iron ore production capacity from 43 MnT pa currently to 67 MnT pa by 2025.
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