Mining lesses with chromite leases will not be allowed to participate at national e-auctions conducted by the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). The State Cabinet has taken this decision to ensure fair price discovery of chromite ore, a scarce resource.
Odisha is home to 97 per cent of the country’s chromite ore deposits which are almost entirely concentrated in Sukinda valley.
In 2019-20, OMC had sold 4.21 lakh tonnes of chrome ore till the end of September. Last fiscal witnessed chromite sales of 11.21 lakh tonnes. Chrome ore sales by OMC have seen a substantive increase since 2015-16 when the state-owned mining PSU had recorded offtake of 6.14 lakh tonnes. OMC sells chrome ore to Ferro Chrome units, chemical units and refractory units.
At the last electronic auctions held by OMC on January 27, the base price chrome ore extracted from its South Kaliapani mines was priced in the bracket of Rs 7326-10948 per tonne with ore grade ranging from 44 per cent to 54 per cent. Price offers for Sukrangi chromite mines at auctions ranged from Rs 5957 to Rs 9675 per tonne where ore varied in grade from 42 to 54 per cent. OMC accounts for about 30 per cent of Odisha’s chrome ore production. Other key players include Tata Steel, Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA), Misrilall Mines and BC Mohanty.
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