Iron ore lessees sans end use plants may face production curbs

Iron ore lessees operating in Odisha without any end use plants and leaseholders exporting the raw material are set to face tight production curbs.

After capping iron ore output from Joda and Koira mining circles at 52 million tonne (mt) per annum, the steel & mines department is planning to regulate production of lessees not involved in value addition or not supplying ore to industries.

"The steel &  mines department is mulling to impose curbs on production of lessees that do not have end-use plants or those that are not supplying ore to industries. State owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) may not face such restriction as it is focused on meeting raw material needs of local industries”, said a source at steel & mines department.

The curb on production will be effective from this fiscal. Of the maximum permissible quantum of 52 mt of iron ore output to be effective from the current fiscal, 40 mt has been the limit prescribed for Joda mining circle with the remainder 12 mt for Koira circle. Both Joda and Koira are the two most prolific iron ore mining sectors in Keonjhar and Sundergarh districts respectively.

The production cap on iron ore has been fixed factoring in concerns over rampant ore extraction and its deleterious impact on the environment.

It may be noted that the M B Shah Commission, constituted by the Centre to investigate illegal mining activities, had urged the Odisha government to imposed curbs on iron ore output to ensure that the finite resource is left for posterity.

Alarmed at the rampant production of iron ore, the state government had formed an 18-member committee chaired by Chief Secretary B K Patnaik to recommended the maximum quantity of ore that can be extracted from Joda and Koira.

In addition to the Chief Secretary, other top state officials like secretaries of departments of steel & mines, commerce & transport, works and environment, director (mines), director (environment), member secretary of State Pollution Control Board were members of the panel. The committee also had representation from two zonal railways- South-Eastern Railway and East Coast Railway as well as Paradip Port Trust and Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM).