The ex-lessees of iron ore mines in Odisha may get extension till 31stJan’21 to sell the accumulated ore at the mine sites. This could follow in the wake of the Supreme Court order allowing miners in Goa time till end-Jan’21 to dispose of old stocks, sources told SteelMint. The old lessees in Odisha could hope for a similar favourable court verdict.
It may be recalled, under rule 12(1)(gg) of the Mineral Concession Rules, 2016 the old lessees had been granted an additional months’ time till 31stOct’20 to dispose of the old stocks. The Director of Mines, Odisha had asked state PSU miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to take over the unsold stocks after 31st Oct’20.
According to senior OMC officials, the total stock stands at 16 mn t as assessed on 26thOct’20. Out of the 28 mines, five don’t have any stocks left. Out of the 23 mines, three are chromite mines that were won by Tata Steel Mining Ltd (TSML) at an average premium of 93% at the auctions earlier this year. The rest 20 are iron ore and manganese mines.
The highest volume of stock is lying at Serajuddin & Co’s Balda block, which is over 8 mn t. There are five mines with stocks of over 1.5 mn t, as assessed on 26 Oct. OMC officials informed SteelMint that the PSU miner has sent security personnel to the 22 mines on 31stOct’20.
Six of these mines had already got a stay order from the court. A joint team of experts, under the Deputy Director and Joint Director of Mines, is inspecting the different mines.
There are four circles under which the mines are classified: Koira, Joda, Baripada and Jajpur. In Baripada, however, there is only one mine – the Gorumahisini iron ore block of Ghanashyam Misra & Sons – which is sub-judice.
The Odisha High Court will hear the pleas of the six mines that have got a stay order on 4thNov’20. Senior officials confirmed that these old lessees are expected to get a favourable order because in the case of Goa the apex court has given a favourable order by extending the timeline for disposal of old stocks till end-Jan’21. All these lessees may get a stay till 31stJan’21 and sell the ore in the meantime.
Dwelling on the ore grade of the old stocks, a senior OMC official told SteelMint: “There is a lot of sub grade ore which may not be sold at all. We will have to see what to do with the ore. For example, Serajuddin has over 4 mn t of ore which is sub 55% (Fe) grade. We can never hope to sell this grade of ore. If the old lessees get time till end-Jan’21,
OMC will promptly withdraw all security personnel that have been deployed at those mines.”
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