State to provide long-term ore linkages to steel plants

The state government has appointed a committee comprising three ministers which would look into the issue and finalise the modalities to supply iron ore to steel companies on a long term basis, according to officials.

When contacted, OMC Chairman and Managing Director Saswat Mishra said modalities would be finalised by the government while OMC would execute the same.

The committee appointed by the state would come up with a report by January. Then, there will be consultations with all the stakeholders and modalities will be finalised, All Odisha Steel Federation president PL Khandoi told PTI.

He also said given the scale of operations, OMC is likely to enter into partnerships with other miners to provide reliable supply to local steel firms.

Odisha, like other iron ore producing states like Goa and Karnataka, halted mining of iron ore after a crackdown on illegal operations following the Supreme Court orders. As a consequence, many steel firms are running at below capacity.

Earlier this month, the state slapped fines and taxes of Rs 67,900-crore on as many as 103 miners for excess production including large firms like Essel Mining, Sarada Mines, Tata Steel among others.

According to industry experts, the state used to produce around 55-60 million tonne of iron ore per annum, out of which 20 million tonnes is consumed by mills located in the state.

Recently, the state also decided to allot mines to those entities with an end-use in the state with the quantum of mining depending on their intake.

"I hope, things will normalise from March onwards with proper systems in place and steel mills will be able to get requisite amount of raw material," Khandoi said.