Industries established in the Kalinganagar Industrial Complex have expressed dissatisfaction with the price of iron ore set by the Orissa Mining Corporation. The affected companies say they are on the brink of closure as a result.
There are nine industrial establishments in the complex and around 30,000 families depends on it for their livelihood. The businesses have sent a plea to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seeking his immediate intervention in to the issue of arbitrary price fixation of Iron Ore by the Orissa Mining Corporation.
OMC is the main supplier of iron ore and the sole supplier of chrome ore to the state and has seemingly scrapped the three year old system of accepting the highest bid for raw materials, deciding instead to impose it’s own rates arbitrarily. Though it agreed for a re-tender in November 2008, it fixed the iron ore price at Rs 1,709 against the highest bidder of Rs 1,179 for December. Chrome ore was fixed at Rs 10,350 against the Highest bidder rate of Rs 9,500. For January and February it stuck with a price for iron ore of Rs 1,709 against the highest bid of Rs 911 and for 50-52 grade chrome ore it set a price of Rs 4,869 over the highest bid of Rs 2,835.
With the local steel industry impacted by the global recession they have incurred heavy losses in the October to December 2008 quarter with more than 25 per cent of their capital eroded. With the current dispute with OMC the fourth quarter of the 2008-09 fiscal year could spell disaster for the enterprises.
Kalinganagar Industrial Complex (KNIC) President P.K.Kandoi told the media at in a press conference Tuesday evening that OMC has also fixed various rates for the regions. While the same grade of Iron Ore at Barbil is fixed at Rs 1,150 it is Rs 1,709 at Daitari despite production costs being the same.
The industries' body has called upon the government to take a proactive approach by instructing OMC to fix prices as per market conditions and save the showprice industrial hub of the state from certain death.
Source: Orissa Diary
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