The steel, pig iron and sponge iron manufacturers in
Karnataka can now heave a sigh of relief and hope for better days ahead as the
state government has agreed to widen the window for transporting the iron ore
purchased at the electronic auctions.
Presently, the Monitoring Committee, appointed by the
Supreme Court to oversee the auctions, has restricted the transportation of
iron ore to 12 hours, from 6 am to 6 pm. But the Karnataka steel manufacturers
association had requested the state government to permit the movement of iron
ore round the clock.
“Considering that the delay in the transport of iron ore is
affecting production, the committee has agreed to extend the timings from the
present 12 hours to 16 hours,” said Vinod Nowal, chief executive officer and
director, JSW Steel Limited said.
“Unless the
government allows transportation of the raw material round the clock, it would
be difficult to maintain the production levels and we cannot shut down the
furnaces,” he added.
Other steel producers like Kalyani Steel, BMM Ispat, Sesa
Goa; pellet producers like MSPL are also facing shortage of iron ore and have
cut down their productions.
Leave a Reply