Odisha auctioned 19 iron ore mines before 31 Mar’20 just as Covid-19 started spreading. Under the Mineral Concession Rules 2016, the former lessees were given seven months (from Mar’20) to liquidate their inventories mined before 31 Mar’20.
The stocks with these miners as on 31 Mar’20 totalled around 40 mn t and the closing stock on 31 Oct’20 stood at around 17 mn t. Half a dozen of them who were left with huge stocks within the leasehold, including KJS Ahluwalia, Serajuddin and RP Sao, had filed a petition in the Odisha High Court seeking extension invoking force majeure on account of Covid-related restrictions imposed by the Centre and the impact on the affected districts.
Court order
Later, the High Court granted a month’s time, starting 23 Nov’21, to the ex-lessees of the mines in Odisha to move out their material.
KJS Ahluwalia and Serajuddin, after a recent court order, have been allowed one and five more days, respectively, to move out their inventory from mines which are now being operated by other lessees. The two companies, along with RP Sao, Kalinga Mining Corporation and Lal Traders, had been granted a month beginning 23 Nov, by the Odisha HC on 29 Oct.
SteelMint’s index for Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) has fallen by INR 1,000/tonne (t) between 23 Nov and 22 Dec to INR 4,500/t ex-mines, including Royalty, DMF and NMET.
Slow despatches
KJS Ahluwalia, which has a large stacking area next to the Nuagaon mine, has been able to remove around 1.3 million tonnes (mn t) of iron ore. As per court order, the company has time till 23 Dec to despatch previously mined ore from this mine which is now being operated by JSW Steel.
Serajuddin, having rebid to retain rights to the Balda iron ore mine whose dumps are believed to be of higher grade, has been less successful so far to move its mined ore i.e. only about 400,000 t. The High Court, considering its contention that transit permits were granted to it only on 27 Nov, has given the miner time until 27 Dec.
RP Sao, whose time ended earlier than the other two miners, managed to despatch about 314,000 t of its old material. KMC sought no permission to despatch following the Oct court order, which government officials attribute to market conditions. The matter comes up for hearing again on 29 Jan’22.
Status of left over iron ore stocks at Odisha auctioned mines in 2020
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