The consequences of the mining
ban in Bellary have started to take a toll. Major companies including JSW and MSPL
reportedly laid-off not less than 500 workers from their plants two days ago.
All major companies have already
initiated cost-cutting measures that include changing working hours, cutting
down on travel and restricting usage of paper in official work.
“We have temporarily shut
down the Hospet Steels plant. But we haven't sacked any of our employees.
Workers who want to take leave would be encouraged,” said Niraj Bajaj, CMD
of Mumbai-based Mukand.
Two weeks after the apex court
allowed government run NMDC to mine in Bellary, the trouble seems to
be far from over. Sources say that NMDC is allowed to mine about 1 m tonnes per
month to feed the domestic demand. But ore-starved domestic steel companies
gobble up at least 2.5 m tonnes of ore every month. Unable to source adequate
ore, many steel companies are temporarily downing shutters.
Kirloskar Ferrous Industries, which specializes in grey iron and steel
investment castings, is operating a single furnace due to lack of steady supply
of iron ore. Irregular supply of iron ore has pushed back deliveries of grey
iron castings to the automobile industry.
The biggest steel company of the
state, JSW, which has a 10-million-tonne-per-annumsteel plant at Toranagal in
Bellary, requires 30 million tonnes iron ore for the current fiscal. NMDC, one
of the biggest producers of iron ore in the country, is struggling to produce
25 million tonnes though it has set a target of 35 million tonnes.
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