Bhubaneswar: The Odisha High Court has retained its stay order on mining at Tata’s Sukinda Chrome mines as hearing continued for the second day. Today, the Odisha government presented its side advocating its decision to allocate the mines to Tata. Yesterday, the High Court has started hearing on the case.
The case related to a petition filed by Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys (IMFA) for redistribution of the mine among captive producers in the state. Similar case has been filed by the other Ferro Alloys makers like Ferro Alloys Corporation (FACOR) and Ballasore Alloys.
The petitioners have argued that the actual Chrome ore requirement of Tata Steel is limited as compared to its production. On the other hand, the company will need more raw materials in view of future expansion plans; hence Tata should be alloted more Chrome mines.
Production at the Chrome mines has been stopped since mid-May after the Supreme Court’s order on closure of 26 Iron ore and Manganese mines in Odisha.
While, senior lawyer and former Finance minister, P Chidambaram presented the case on behalf of IMFA; Salman Khurshid is arguing on behalf of JSL. On the other hand, senior lawyer Abhisek Manu Singhvi is advocating on behalf of Tata.
The next hearing of the case will be held on 04 Sep, 2014.
Leave a Reply