BHUBANESWAR: Indicating shortage of iron ore in the near future, the government of India's Orissa state said it was not committed to providing raw material linkage to steel plants on a long term basis.
"The state government has never assured any industry in the MoUs signed so far to supply raw material on a long term basis. The industries can arrange iron ore or any other raw materials required for steel making from other sources," industries and steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty told the Assembly Thursday night, while responding to a question on the budgetary demand of the departments.
Though the state had entered into an agreement with at least 49 steel producers for setting up units in the state, it could face scarcity of iron ore, which is the basic raw material required for steel manufacturing, if all the units started production to the maximum capacity of 76 MTPA.
The state has a reserve of 5,300 million tonnes of iron ore, of which 3,000 tonnes had already been leased out. However, many industries are yet to reach the production stage. Of the 49 MoUs, only 28 units had gone to partial production.
"We doubt, the state's iron ore reserve could be finished only in seven years in case all the 49 units started production to their full capacity," chief whip of Opposition Congress Prasad Harichandan said. Harichandan alleged that mindless mining and rampant theft of valuable minerals could lead the state to becoming a mineral deficit state from being one of the most mineral-rich state.
"I want specific response from the government on its plan on how to tackle situation when the iron ore reserves were finished," he said.
Stating that the amount of the state's mineral reserve were being re-accessed, the minister said as much as 10.4 million tonnes of fresh iron reserve had been located at Dholta hills in Sundergarh district, while one million tonnes of the same mineral was found deposited at Potagarh hills in Nawrangpur district.
Source: Times Of India
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