Chiria mines to meet SAIL needs, says Soren

Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren has assured Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP) managing director V K Srivastava that SAIL’s needs would be met by Chiria mines.

Soren told reporters in Bokaro that SAIL's Bokaro plant had surplus land where the public sector undertaking could undertake its expansion. The current needs of iron ore could be met by the Chira mines, he added.

Soren said that iron ore requirement of SAIL’s Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) could be met from Chiria mines.

It may be mentioned that earlier governments led by Arjun Munda and Madhu Koda had said that the lease of Chiria mines would be renewed as per actual requirement of SAIL. However, a settlement with the Koda government had agreed to renew lease for one billion tonne of iron ore on immediate basis while the balance would be linked to SAIL's proposed greenfield project.

In October last year, the state government gave a written assurance for the renewal of Budhaburu iron ore deposits in Chiria and Gua region with estimated reserves of 810 million tonnes, nearly half of the reserves in the area, to SAIL.

The differences between SAIL and the state government pertained mainly to the renewal of 4 leases out of 10 iron ore mines in the Chiria and Gua region.

The Chiria mines spread over 2,375 hectares in West Singhbhum district in Jharkahd with deposits of 2 billion tonnes of high-grade iron ore, have been at the centre of an ownership battle for over four years. The mines had been originally allotted to Indian Iron & Steel Company (IISCO), which was merged with SAIL in 2006.

While SAIL claims the ownership of the Chiria reserves by virtue of the merger of IISCO, the Jharkhand government disputed it.

Besides, ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel and JSW Steel have been eying the huge Chiria reserves and wanted rights to mine these.

The state government has allocated Karampada mines in Jharkhand with estimated reserves of 65 million tonnes of iron ore to ArcelorMittal. The steel major needs about 600 million tonnes of iron ore to feed its proposed 12 million tonne steel plant in Jharkhand.