Steel ministry panel calls for exploration of manganese ore reserves

A consultative committee on Tuesday suggested CPSEs to explore of reserves manganese ore and other minerals in states like Jharkhand, Odisha and Karnataka, an official statement said.

The Consultative Committee of Parliament for Ministry of Steel also suggested for a research and development (R&D) team to be constituted to work out the possibility of usage of manganese in battery-powered vehicles.

During the meeting of the committee, Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh who is the Chairman of the body along with Minister of State (MoS) for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste directed the CPSEs under his ministry to take up the issue of manganese ore exploration with state governments and explore possibilities of new manganese bearing areas in India, the steel ministry said.

"Members of the committee suggested for exploration and survey of minerals in Jharkhand, Odisha and Karnataka and that a Research & Development team to be constituted to work out the possibility of usage of manganese in E-vehicles batteries," it said.

The committee also discussed a "wide gamut of issues" including usage of manganese ore, its production in India and contribution of state-owned MOIL in country's manganese production. MOIL is contributing around 45 per cent of domestic production and has drawn up plan to increase production up to 1.8 million tonne (MT) by year 2024-25 and 3.5 MT by year 2030.

Speaking on steel output, Minister Singh said as per the current progress, the production is likely to achieve a record production of 115 MT this year.