Tata Steel believes the raw material issues, which forced the hundred-year-old steelmaker to import iron ore for the first time in its history last year, may finally be behind it.
"All our mines are operational, including our Sukinda chrome mine. These are mines we have been mining for 80-90 years, we will (with the promulgation of an ordinance) be able to continue mining them now," said Managing Director TV Narendran.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference on corporate social responsibility, organised by NGO Centre for Youth and Social Development. Work has also resumed at its ferro-alloy plant in Bamnipal, which the company had temporarily shut in August, citing chrome shortage.
Regulatory issues in 2014 had led to the steelmaker being forced to temporarily stop work at its mines - a crisis that it had not suffered alone. On January 12, amendments to the MMDR Act were promulgated, extending until 2030 mining rights to Tata Steel and everyone else owning leases more than 50 years old, such as Steel Authority of IndiaBSE -1.20 %, Balco, Hindustan CopperBSE -0.57 % and ACC Cement. In case of a non-captive mine, rights were to be considered valid until 2020.
A recent order of the Ministry of Environment and Forest has helped the industry duck another major breakdown that it was headed towards.
Lessees operating until now with clearances for at least a part of their lease area have till February 1, 2016 to get clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 for the entire area. The previous deadline was this January 31."The fear that mining would come to a standstill on February 1 has been removed," said a senior company official who didn't want to be named.
CS Verma, Chairman of the public sector SAILBSE -1.20 % welcomed the move.
RK Bansal, a sustainable mining expert, said he believes that while iron ore, bauxite, chrome and even coal mines across the country get a breather,"the responsibility of processing the applications in time now lies with the state and the central governments"
A central government amendment in July 2014 had brought operations at Tata Steel's captive mines in Odisha, and later Jharkhand, to a halt. The two states meet all of the steelmaker's domestic requirement for steel and ferro alloys.
Operations resumed after Odisha agreed to allow renewal of four mines - Joda East, Katamani, Bamebari and Joda West - holding back on Khondbondh, a mine that Tata Steel claimed it was saving up for a 3 million tonne steel plant it is building at Kalinganagar, Jajpur. The company had to turn to the Ranchi High court to get relief for its Nuamundi mine in Jharkhand. Unlike SAIL, Tata Steel had not got fresh forest clearances, failing to meet the requirements for the execution of a lease, which though may no longer be a requirement following the ordinance.
Source: ET
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