Raigarh based furnaces finally receive a sign of relief as Jindal agree to continue power supply to 30 furnaces based in Punjipatra on confirmation of receipt of 5% pending amount dues and extended the date for remaining payment till 15 Nov, 2014.
A furnace operator based in Raigarh stated at 4:00 p.m today, “We had a discussion with Jindal officials and presently they have agreed on 5% payment of electricity dues and remaining payment option will be discussed between furnace operator and Jindal officials mutually before till 15 Nov, 2014. Therefore, power supply will remain normal to all plants.”
Jindal has first issued a notice on 04 Oct, 2014 to all furnace operators to clear the electricity cess charges, which is about INR 1.5 crore per furnace, accumulating since 2006-2007. Earlier, most of the furnace operators were opposing not to pay the charges mentioning they are unjustified. However, they agreed to pay 5% amount today and remaining amount will be discussed and finalized between Jindal official and furnace operators till 15 Nov, 2014.
Raigarh has 26 induction furnace and 4 arc furnace units that as per the sources consume 100 MW electricity approx. Jindal has limited option to sale electricity in the open market that made the Jindal official lenient while negotiating with furnace operators.
Current offers for commercial MS Ingot is INR 29,000-29,100/MT ex-Raigarh on regular payment basis and commercial Billet at INR 29,000/MT (ex-Raigarh) on advance payment basis. Meanwhile, Sponge iron (C-DRI) is being offered at INR 21,000/MT (ex-Raigarh) and Pellet sponge (P-DRI) offers are hovering in the range of INR 19,000/MT (ex- Raigarh).
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