The controversy over the Bayyaram iron ore mines in Khammam district, allotted in principle by the State Government to the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (Visakhapatnam Steel Plant), has intensified, with the Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu joining the fray. It may be noted that leaders from Telangana area, particularly those of Telanagana Rashtra Samiti, are opposing the proposal and demanding that a steel plant be set up at Bayyaram. They do not want the ore to be transferred to the steel plant here.
The former chief minister, currently in Visakhapatnam district conducting a padayatra, said the State Government should make efforts to set up a steel plant at Bayyaram. “In fact, it was Telugu Desam which demanded the establishment of a steel plant at Bayyaram first. The TRS, which was in league with the Congress, was strangely silent on the subject then and now it is raising a hue and cry to gain political mileage,” he alleged.
Odisha also reluctant
To make matters worse for RINL, it is learnt, the Orissa Government is also reluctant to give green signal to RINL to source part of its raw material requirement from Barbil mines in the State.
RINL converted the Orissa Minerals Development Company into its subsidiary by picking up 51 per cent equity in Eastern Investments Ltd in October 2010 on payment of Rs 361.30 crore with the hope of meeting part of its iron ore requirement.
Orissa Minerals, a listed company with six mining blocks, is having 206 million tonnes of iron ore and 44 mt of manganese ore. However, the leases have not been renewed due to certain demands by the locals and controversy that erupted following illegal mining scam in Odisha.
RINL, without captive iron ore mines, is spending almost 70 per cent of its production cost on raw materials. It procures iron ore from NMDC’s Bailadilla mines in Chhattisgarh and imports coking coal. It is expected to get mining leases in Bhilwara of Rajasthan, which is estimated to have 220 mt iron ore reserves.