JSW Steel still hasn't managed to
ramp up production at its 10-mt plant in Karnataka despite of buying close to
3.5 million tonnes (MT) of iron ore through e-auction till date.
The plant is still running at 50
per cent capacity and ramping up has been delayed due to issues related to
getting the ore delivered at its gates.
Last month, CEO Vinod Nowal said
the company had charted a plan to reach 80 per cent capacity in the first week
of November, based on the e-auctions scheduled in the last week of October. The
company managed to buy over 40 per cent of the ore in the last two auctions,
securing 3.4 mt of ore.
However, the bottleneck is the
delivery of ore to the plant that is forcing the steel major to run at reduced
capacity. “The transportation of iron ore is still an issue and we are not
able to get it. Several approvals are required and that is an area of concern
at present,” a company official said.
He added that adequate
representation has been made to the Supreme Court and the state government to
allow transportation of ore all 24 hours, rather than the 12-hour window period
permitted at present.
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