Bhubaneswar: MiniRatna PSU
KIOCL ltd, a pioneer in high grade iron ore pellet making has evinced interest
in setting up a pellet and Beneficiation plant jointly with Odisha Mining
Corporation (OMC). The Bangalore based PSU has aims to tap the unsold fines stashed
at various mines of OMC.
On Nov 26, the Chairman and
Managing Director of KIOCL Mr. Malay Chatterjee met the Odisha Chief Minister
Naveen Pattnaik and had a detailed discussion on the company’s investment
proposals in the state.
After getting positive response
from the Chief Minister, the Company in its letter to the state government had asked
the authorities to arrange a meeting with the senior officials for a detailed discussion
to formalise the proposal. Subsequently the state government has invited KIOCL
for a discussion on 17th of this month along with the officials of
OMC.
KIOCL Ltd has its 3.5
million tonnes Pelletisation Complex and Pig Iron Complex at Mangalore, the coastal
city of Karnataka, and is engaged in the business of manufacturing and
exporting high quality Iron Oxide Pellets and supply of pig iron for domestic
market. On the other hand KIOCL's products are now exported to China,
Japan, Iran and Taiwan in the international market besides catering to a number
of consumers in the domestic market such as Ispat Industries, Vikram Ispat and
Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited. From last year it has been supplying iron ore
pellets to the Rourkela Steel Plant of SAIL.
The decision to set up
a pellet plant jointly with OMC in Odisha is prompted by the fact that OMC has
huge quantities of unsold fines stashed at several mines. Only at Gandhamardan
mines OMC has more than 25 million tonnes of fines stacked for the last several
years causing severe environmental problems. Including OMC there is more than
100 million tonnes of fines piled at various government and private owned mines
in the state. Even the Shah
Commission of enquiry has drawn the attention of the government and mine owners
on this matter. Also the
All Odisha Steel Federation has also asked the government to liquidate the
stock.
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