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| Jharkhand agrees to renew Chiria leases to SAIL |
| Press Trust of India / Kolkata Nov 17, 2009, 15:23 IST |
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Public sector steel firm Steel Authority of India (SAIL) today said the Jharkhand government had agreed to renew leases of Chiria iron ore mines to meet the current needs of the company.
Chairman and Managing Director of SAIL S K Roongta said: "The Jharkhand government is agreeable to renew the leases for current needs of the company."
SAIL has a unit at Bokaro in Jharkhand, the capacity of which is being expanded from 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 7 MTPA.
Roongta, on the sidelines of a symposium here, told reporters that SAIL had asked for renewal of 10 leases, out of which four were under dispute, he said.
He said SAIL had sought a reserve of 1,000 million tonnes (MT) of Chiria ore from the Jharkhand government.
"The government had given a written communication to provide 810 MT, and an additional 200 MT later," he said.
Chiria mines belonged to steel firm IISCO at Burnpur in West Bengal, which was taken over by SAIL in 2006-07. It was then renamed at IISCO Steel Plant.
Roongta said the Jharkhand government was not accepting the automatic transfer of Chiria leases to SAIL, but it was agreeable now.
To a query, Roongta said the company was also looking for coking coal assets abroad. "We are in discussions with some countries," he said.
Roongta said, "We want to secure around 30 per cent to 40 per cent of coking coal reserves."
SAIL has drawn up a huge capital expenditure plan of Rs 60,000 crore, which would be funded in the ratio of 1:1.
Roongta said Rs 37000 crore has been earmarked for capacity expansion and the balance for product-mix upgradation.
SAIL plans to add another 9 MT capacity by 2012.
For the current financial year, he said, capital expenditure plan would be Rs 10,000 crore and capacity addition would be around 1 MT.
SAIL has also planned a greenfield plant in Jharkhand.
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