India: Iron Ore dispatch in Odisha touches 57 MnT till January

Actual annual production in Odisha could be significantly more than the capped amount.

Bhubaneswar: While the Odisha Government has capped Iron ore production at 57 MnT annually, it seems the actual production for this financial year will be much more that. However, the royalty income of the state government has seen dropping in the recent months.

According to a senior official of the directorate of mines, Iron ore dispatch has touched 57 MnT till January this year which was 49 MnT during the same period in last year. But, at the same time, the royalty income has dropped during this period mainly due to fall in iron ore pricse in the national & international market in FY14 against FY13. The government collects 10% royalty on the sale price of the commodity used for steelmaking.

In the last financial year i.e. FY13, the total annual production of Iron ore was 62 MnT, contributing around 45% of India’s total iron ore production.

But, the official has expressed confidence that the government will be able to adjust shortfall in royalty collection in remaining two months.

On the other hand, some experts say the growth of dispatch of Iron ore has been rising faster than production growth due to stringent and regular supervision of mineral production and dispatch minerals by the authorities. Currently, there are only 31 Iron ore, 12 Manganese and 20 Iron ore-manganese mines are operating. Many mines are in non-working state mainly due to need of statutory clearances from the centre.

Iron Ore Production by Major Miners in Odisha in FY13

Provisional Data
Production in Million Tonnes