Tata Steel Ltd has resumed mining operations at its biggest iron ore mine after a more-than-three-month stoppage, a company spokesman told Reuters, a move that will help lower its reliance on costlier imports of the raw material.
The eastern state of Jharkhand, where Tata Steel operates its 10 million tonne-per-year Noamundi mine, asked the company to stop operations in September pending a renewal of its lease.
The company received the go-ahead for resuming operations from the state government on Wednesday and started operations on Thursday, spokesman Chanakya Chaudhary said in an email to Reuters.
Tata Steel on Monday warned that its profitability was impacted during the October-December quarter as plants operated below capacity due to shortage of iron ore.
Mining curbs in Jharkhand and neighbouring Odisha state have this year forced Tata Steel to resort to iron ore imports for the first time in over a century of operations.