Bhubaneswar: Odisha
government has turned down the Rastriya Ispat Nigam limited (RINL)'s
application for allotment of iron ore block in the state as per the new mining
resolution, under which the state has decided to reserve all the remaining area
bearing iron ore for undertaking prospecting or mining operation through the Odisha
Mining Corporation (OMC).
In a letter to
the CMD of RINL's Vizag steel plant, Mr.
B. Behera the under secretary to the steel and mines department has communicated
the state government’s decision.
On 14th
of August, RINL had applied to the state government for allocation /reservation
of good iron ore blocks in the state. However one month later, on 18th
of September the state government undertook a resolution through which the
remaining iron ore, Manganese, bauxite and chromite bearing areas would be
reserved for state run miner OMC for mining operations. This excludes the mining
areas which are already held under prospecting licence or lease.
The decision of
Odisha government might be a big jolt to RINL, which is looking for raw
material security for its expanded capacity. The Vizag steel plant is in the
final stages of expanding its capacity to 6.3 million tonnes per annum of crude
steel. Besides, it has been planning to set up a new 4 mtpa unit, meant to
produce flat products, at an investment of about Rs 22,000 crore in the coming
years.
Reported by: Tapan Moharana
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