Unavailability of iron ore from Chiria mines to hit SAILs expansion plans

Unavailability of valuable iron ore from Jharkhand’s Chiria mines may seriously affect the long-term expansion plans of Steel Authority of India (SAIL). According to a top SAIL official, the very existence of the PSU will be at stake if it does not get iron ore from Chiria.

The official said that the present iron ore reserves under SAIL’s possession are not enough to meet its future requirements considering the major expansion plans it has in the offing. According to SAIL’s Raw Material Division Executive Director Kiran Kapoor, SAIL plans to augment its hot metal production to 26.13 million tons by 2010 and thereafter to 60 MT by 2020. For achieving 26.13 MT production target, SAIL will need around 42 MT of iron ore, while for 60 MT the requirement is pegged at about 100 MT.

It may be mentioned that SAIL has already appraised the Centre that its total iron ore requirement for a span of 50 years will be over three billion tons. Currently, total iron ore available with SAIL from its mines in Orissa and Jharkhand is approximately 26.33 MT. In view of its 2010 expansion plan, the steel major has visualized capacity expansion of its mines in Jharkhand and Orissa.

While production of iron ore from Gua, Kiriburu and Meghataburu mines in Jharkhand will be scaled up to 10 MT, 5.5 MT and 6 MT respectively by 2010, that of Bolani in Orissa will go up to 10 MT.

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