Country's top miner NMDC is in the process of ramping up its production from its Karnataka's facility in Bellary to one million tonnes a month, Steel Secretary P. K. Misra said here on Friday. “I think we should be able to stabilise things soon. In a month's time things will stabilise for the steel sector. NMDC will ramp up its production capacity to one million tonnes,'' Mr. Misra told reporters here on the sidelines of a CII conference on steel.
The steel and allied industries in the South are now reeling under severe shortages of iron ore, a vital raw material for production.
The issue has come up, following a July 29 ban by the Supreme Court on mining activities in the Bellary district in Karnataka due to environmental degradation of the area.
This led to a severe shortage of iron ore in the South as Bellary accounts for about 80 per cent of Karnataka's total production at about 40 million tonnes annually.
The steel and allied industries had maintained that the partial relief provided by the apex court on August 5, allowing NMDC to mine one million tonnes of ore a month, would not help as the demand was much more.
In a statement here, the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce said iron ore demand of steel and allied industries in Karnataka alone was 2.9 million tonnes a month, while NMDC had been allowed to mine only one million tonnes.
The chamber also said NMDC had been supplying only in the range of 21,000-22,000 tonnes a day against the estimated daily production of 33,500 tonnes, to fulfil the criteria of producing one million tonnes a month, as has been ordered by the apex court. Mr. Misra said NMDC had also started supplying from Chhattisgarh to meet the shortfall, while some industries were buying from Goa to run their plants.
Meanwhile, he refused to give a timeframe for the much-delayed share sale of state-run SAIL, while expressing hope that the follow-on public offer of the Maharatna company would happen in the current fiscal. “It has to be at the appropriate time when the stock market is in good condition. Right now, the stock market is going up and down. We still intend to go through with the FPO issue this financial year,'' he added.
