With the Supreme Court permitting state-owned firm NMDC to mine iron ore from its two sites at Bellary, Karnataka, JSW Steel said that it will run its plants at Vijayanagar and Salem, Tamil Nadu at 80 per cent capacity.
The company, whose two plants have a combined steel capacity of 11 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), added that it expects further relief from the Supreme Court. The requirement of iron ore to operate both these units at full capacity will be 18 million tonnes.
“This relief not only provides breather to the steel industry in the region but also assists in continuation of employment and livelihood for people employed in this sector … though the ruling is not expected to ease the situation for the steel companies in the region to operate the plants at full capacity since the requirement of iron ore is much higher than what is currently allowed,” a company statement said.
According to the company, the current production of iron ore in the rest of Karnataka is 7-8 mtpa. The total availability of iron ore in Karnataka will be only 19-20 million tonnes including the proposed 12 million tonnes from NMDC in Bellary district, against the industry requirement of 33 million tonnes thus meeting only 60 per cent of requirement.