Odisha to miss iron ore e-auction April deadline

Abandons proposal of ore trade canalization via OMC; steel ministry to conduct auction

Odisha may miss April deadline to conduct iron ore e-auction on behalf of miners of the state as the  steel and mines ministry is undecided over the issue. The online auction conducting agency MSTC Ltd said it is ready with all necessary infrastructure and is awaiting the government nod.

"As of now we have all necessary infrastructure ready to conduct the e-auction via our Kolkata office. We are awaiting government order to go ahead,” said an official of MSTC.

In November last year , the state government decided to sell entire iron ore and manganese ore  produced in the state through online auction route by April 2013 by employing state-run miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) as the canalizing agent in order to address the issue of raw material supply problems for domestic steel units.

It has even constituted a committee comprising of cabinet ministers and headed by finance minister  to chalk out the modalities of the trading.

The committee, whose term ends in April, is yet to give its recommendation to the state government for coming up with a notification for sale of minerals through on line trading platform. As the state assembly session will end on Apr 6, it is unlikely that the proposal will come before May.

Meanwhile, the steel and mines ministry has abandoned the proposal to canalise the iron ore trade via OMC and instead, a special committee set up under the ministry will carry on the task in association with MSTC Ltd.

The committee will also take over the charge of chrome ore e-auction currently conducted by OMC as part of the recent proposal, said a government source.

According to current practices, steel manufacturers procure raw material from miners at a negotiated price, while others depend on mines run by OMC, which announces iron ore rates every quarter.

Many sponge iron makers and other secondary steel producers of Odisha, Chhatishgarh and West Bengal depend on state-based miners to run their units. Some steel makers based in south India have also started sourcing the raw material from the state after Goa recently banned mining following a probe panel recommendation. In Karnataka, even though the Supreme Court has lifted the ban on mining after 13 months, production is yet to resume in full scale.

Currently, central government PSU National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) conducts e-auction of iron ore in Karnataka following the Supreme Court direction. A couple of private miners are also offering the ore via MSTC in Karnataka.