Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has sought the Central government’s approval for diversion of 216.875 hectares of forest land in Keonjhar district for mining activities related to the Gandhalpada iron ore block allotted to Tata Steel Ltd.
A formal proposal has been submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in which Odisha’s Forest, Environment & Climate Change department has sought clearance under Section 2(1)(iii) of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Sam
vardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 for granting a mining lease over forest land within a total lease area of 241.1 hectares under Keonjhar forest division, reported Business Standard.
Of this, 216.87 hectares, including 4.21 hectares earmarked as a safety zone, fall under forest category, and the remaining 24.22 hectares is non-forest land.
The Gandhalapada block, located under Barbil tehsil in Keonjhar, was auctioned by Odisha government in 2021. Tata Steel Mining Ltd, subsequently amalgamated with Tata Steel, emerged as the preferred bidder.
The company has received a letter of intent (LoI) for a 50-year lease, having already paid Rs 122.41 crore as the first instalment.
Tata Steel aims to double its crude steel production capacity from 19 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 40 MTPA by 2030. To achieve this, the company will need 66 MTPA of iron ore, which it plans to meet primarily through captive mining.