In the latest development over the issue of pellets transportation via road by AM/NS India at Paradip, Odisha, the company has been discussing with Essar on a fresh agreement to resume moving the material by the conveyor belt. It may be noted that the earlier agreement to use the conveyor belt is said to have expired, and both parties are yet to agree on the fresh contract’s terms and conditions.
It may be recalled that the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) in Odisha, along with the district administration in Paradip, had served notices to Essar, asking it to stop the transportation of pellets by road from AM/NS India’s pellets plant here and use the conveyor belt system to stop pollution.
However, when asked, a source at AM/NS India informed SteelMint that the company was forced to go for road movement of pellets from its Paradip plant only because the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) had sent a notice to Essar Paradip Port* terminal stating that the conveyor belt transportation was causing pollution. “So, basis that, Essar stopped our conveyor loading and we were forced to start movement by truck. What else could we do if our conveyor transportation was stopped and that too based on an SPCB notice?” the official said.
AM/NS India, on its part, received a notice asking for stopping pellet transportation via road*. Post the notice, AM/India was not only forced to stop the conveyor movement and transport via road, but also acquire a plot at Paradip Port to keep the inventory, like any other pellet exporter, before loading on to ships for onward movement to its Hazira plant, the source informed.
AM/NS India is using the conveyor, but its ownership rests with Essar. AM/NS India acquired Essar Steel about more than a year back but ownership of ports and other aspects are still contested and sub-judice.
Sources inform that Essar received a notice from the SPCB saying that the conveyor belt was malfunctioning as a result of which some environmental issues were cropping up during the transportation of AM/NS India’s pellets from its plant in Paradip which was duly conveyed to the company. AM/NS India was also informed that the conveyor was being stopped for repair works. Thus, it had to stop using the conveyor based on the notice received and resort to road transportation.
The conveyor has been duly repaired now and AM/NS India has been asked to resume operations, a source informed. However, the contract for using the conveyor expired on March 31, 2021. SteelMint has learnt that some fresh clauses are being included in the new agreement and both Essar and AM/NS India need to mutually agree on these for a resumption of conveyor transportation of pellets.
An AM/NS India official informed that the SPCB notice was issued in end-January and the “conveyor movement was stopped around the first or second week of February”. “The fresh agreement is not fair. The clauses are being discussed,” the sources added.
AM/NS is producing around 15,000 tonnes of pellets per day at the Paradip plant. It cannot stock at the plant beyond a certain limit and so had to go for truck movement to keep the inventory moving. Around 5 lakh tonnes of pellets per month is the volume likely to have been transported by road.
*Corrected
by Madhumita Mookerji
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