The government is trying its best to improve iron ore supplies to ease the problems of the domestic steel industry the steel & mines minister Narendra Tomar said in Lok Sabha on Monday. The minister comments come at a time when ore imports are rising and the NDA is faced with the prospect of not being able to introduce the much-awaited revised Mining Bill in the current session of Parliament which ends on Tuesday.
"We are trying our best to increase availability of iron ore for the steel industry," the Minister said in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour. The minister said fuel supplies to steel plants have not been disrupted due to Supreme Court's (SC) decision to cancel coal blocks. "The ministry of steel has taken up the matter of ensuring adequate availability of coal to the steel sector with Coal Ministry," Mr Tomar said. He was responding to a query on whether the government has made any assessment of the adverse effect of cancellation of coal block allocations by the Supreme Court on operational steel plants. If there is a crisis in the steel industry, it is due to inadequate availability of iron ore, the minister added.
The mining crisis which saw SC ban illegal mining of iron ore in key states Karnataka, and Goa and later lift the ban with cap of production, has left steel companies grappling with shortage of iron ore, a key raw material used in steelmaking. Low domestic supplies of ore have forced many companies to look for imports.The shortage aggravated this year as some mines in Odisha and Jharkhand were ordered closed after the expiry of licenses. Alongwith it, a 48% slump in global iron ore prices to $70 per tonne has also led to a spurt in imports in recent months. "Iron ore imports have gone up significantly. Imports are likely to jump to around 11-12 mt in this financial year, 2014-15. Between April-November 2014, iron ore imports stood at 6.8 mt against 0.3 mt in April-November 2013-14," Rohan Baid, partner at SteelMint, a steel research, analysis and consultancy firm said.
The minister insisted that cancellation of coal blocks has not affected the industry. "Coal production from coal producing coal blocks has been permitted till March 31, 2015. Therefore, coal supply has not been disrupted due to cancellation of coal blocks by the Supreme Court," Mr Tomar said.
Source: ET
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