Indian supreme court yesterday lifts ban on 18 iron ore mines (some mines which comes under 'A' category) in Karnataka which were closed for more than 1-year on violating environmental norms. Industry has welcomed this move and expect that blanket ban on other mines will also be lifted soon.
JSW steel, largest steel producer in the state and second largest steel producer in India said that move is welcomed by the industry and this will increase supply of iron ore in the state. Also e-auction prices will come down on improved supply and falling iron ore prices in International market.
“Right now we are working at 80% capacity utilization. NMDC has been operating its mines at around 9 million tonnes per annum. 18 mines will produce almost 5 million tonnes, almost 14 million tonnes of incremental iron ore will be available. In addition to the stocks which are being auctioned, what is already auctioned and not used, those stocks will be taken into account. There will be sufficient stock for sometime but at the same time opening of category B mines is also essential in order to see that the industry would get sufficient iron ore to run their units.
The industry requirement in the state of Karnataka is 30 million tonnes per annum. That is what is approved or what is recommended by the CEC and also ICFRE. Therefore, opening up of the category B mines and normalization will take some more time. Once the situation becomes normal we expect to improve the capacity utilization.” said Mr Seshagiri Roa, CFO, JSW steel
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