Deadlock over dolomite transportation at BSP

Chhattisgarh had banned the transportation of dolomite from the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) mines in Bilaspur for alleged violation of norms.

SAIL has a major dolomite mining operation in Hirri of Bilaspur district, about 100 km from Raipur. Dolomite is used in steel plants as raw material and is being transported to Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), the flagship entity of SAIL.

As per norms, SAIL was supposed to get the storage license from the state government for storing about 1,00,000 tonne dolomite in Hirri mines.

The company, however, failed to obtain the license while continuing to store and transport the raw material. The Bilaspur district administration had served a notice on the company and asked it to obtain the license by depositing the required fee. The company challenged the notice in the mining directorate, which recently rejected the appeal.

The district administration had banned the transportation of dolomite from the mines as the company did not possess the required license, Bilaspur District Collector Sonmoni Borah told Business Standard. Production in the mines had not been banned, he added.