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JSW Steel Ltd, the largest steel producer in the country, which apprehended a bleak future owing to non-availability of iron ore a fortnight ago, now sees a change in the situation.
With the supply of iron ore improving, JSW is optimistic of increasing its production to 90 per cent of the installed capacity by the end of October.
Ore availability
Dr Vinod Nowal, Chief Executive Officer JSW, told Business Line, “We are hopeful that our ore requirement will be improved after October 18 when we expect a daily supply of around 20,000 tonnes of iron ore from Bellary and Chitradurga districts that has been allotted through e-auction.
“In addition, we would be getting around two rakes (one rake contains around 3,500 tonnes of ore) from Orissa and Chattisgarh. We are also confident that the quantity of ore would go up gradually after every e-auction, assuring around 40,000 tonnes per day.
“With this optimism we are confident of increasing the production to 90 percent of the installed capacity by the end of this month (October).”
The plant
JSW Steel, which set up its integrated steel plant at Torangal in Sandur taluk of Bellary district in 1994 with an installed capacity of 1.6 million tonnes a year, has now emerged as the largest steel producer in the country with an annual production of 10 million tonnes.
So far, JSW has invested around Rs 34,000 crore in the plant. Compared with the daily requirement of around 60,000 tonnes of iron ore, it had become very difficult for JSW to procure on an average 5,000 tonnes per day following the ban on mining activities. In turn, the production of steel, which was around 27,000 tonnes per day in July, had slumped to 7,000 tonnes since last week of September.
Mr Sajjan Jindal, Managing Director of JSW, had apprehended that the unit will have to be closed down if the situation (non-availability of ore) continued for some more time.
Meanwhile, according to the directions of the Supreme Court, steps were taken by the authorities to supply the ore, which was stocked in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts, through e-auction, which helped to ease the situation.
Resuming mining
Dr. Nowal hoped that the Supreme Court-appointed team, carrying out the Environment Impact Assessment in the mining areas and also suggest measures for reclamation and rehabilitation, would submit its report early, so that the Supreme Court would permit resuming of mining activities in some of the mines that were not found to be indulged in illegal mining.
Dr Nowal, who is also the President of the Karnataka Iron and Steel Manufacturers' Association (KISMA), has appealed to the State Government to permit loading and transportation of iron ore round-the-clock to ensure unhindered supply of the basic raw material.
Loading rules
“Presently, loading of ore is not permitted after 6 p.m. The State Government, while taking all precautionary measures and stepping up its vigil to check illegal transportation of ore, could relax the rules so that the supply of ore to the industries could be ensured on one hand and would also benefit the transporters to earn more and repay their loans,” he said.
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