IDCOL seeks new mines for Kalinga Iron Works

The state owned Industrial Development Corporation of Orissa Limited (IDCOL) has sought allotment of new mines to meet the blast furnace (BF) grade ore requirement of Idcol Kalinga Iron Works Limited (IKIWL) located at Barbil.

It has applied the steel and mines department for allotment of BF grade iron ore mines, preferably in Barbil area, to save the cost of transportation, sources said.

Though the unit was allotted an iron ore bearing patch in Roida ‘C’ mines, mostly sponge iron grade ore was available there with a part of it being manganese. With per month raising being 25,000 tonne to 30,000 tonne, the reserve is almost exhausted.

Sources said, the company is meeting its present need of BF grade iron ore from supplies by Orissa Mineral Development Corporation (OMDC) and Sesa Goa among others. But there being scarcity of BF grade iron ore in the market, the company often faces problems in getting regular supplies.

“For optimum utilisation of capacity of IKIWL, we have applied the government for allotment of new iron ore mines having BF grade ore”, a senior IDCOL official told Business Standard.

About 7,000 to 7,500 tonnes of pig iron is being produced from the unit with 2 out of its 3 furnaces being operational at present. The pig iron is being used to make 1000 tonne of cast iron pipe per month. If sufficient BF grade iron ore is made available, then all the three furnaces can be made operation to produce 12,000 tonne of pig iron per month.

IDCOL reasons that the profitability and growth of IKIWL will very much depend on the availability of BF grade ore, where reducibility is more.

If alumina content in the ore is high, then flux will be required to separate ore from alumina, which may raise the cost of production.

According to sources, the unit has an installed capacity of about 1.7 lakh tonne per annum and the work culture prevailing there is comparable to the private sector. So the allotment of mines will help it to attain optimum capacity utilisation.

IKIWL recorded a turnover of Rs 230 crore in 2008-09, which constituted a major portion of the IDCOL group turnover of Rs 502 crore.

Similarly, the group profit stood at Rs 64 crore during last fiscal.