The Supreme Court's order last Friday in which it said that
even supplies of iron ore by the state-run firm NMDC from its mines will be
done only through the e-auction route has further aggravated the shortage of
iron ore in the state.
The apex court order had further said that an e-auction will
be done for NMDC's iron ore, irrespective of the long-term supply agreements it
has entered into with various steel units in the state.
Following this, the Navratna firm had cut the supplies to
all companies, including JSW, with whom it has long-term supply agreements for
iron ore.
Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel today said it may have
to entirely shut down its 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) Vijayanagar plant
in Karnataka due to a continuous shortage of iron ore.
“We may have to shut entirely (Vijayanagar plant). There
is a good possibility of that (closure) if the situation does not
improve,” said JSW Steel Vice Chairman and MD Sajjan Jindal.
“We don't have any inventory. We are running the unit
at 30% capacity and managing to source iron ore from here and there i.e. Chattisgarh
and Orissa, which is too costly,” he added.
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