Bhubaneswar: Fearing that mines will come to a grinding halt putting raw material pressure on industries, miners have sought both state and Central help for timely auctions and smooth transition of clearances to ensure continuity in operations. The lease period of several commercial mines in Odisha will expire on March 31, 2020. Together, have a production capacity of about 60 million tonne iron ore.
They were participating in the India Mining Conclave held in the state capital recently.
On the concluding day of the Conclave, organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Convenor of Steel and Mines Committee of ICC Odisha State Council Manish Kharbanda, in a press meet, summarised the key deliberations in the conclave along with ICC State Council chairperson M C Thomas and Co-chair, J B Pany. They urged the state government to give a proposal for embedment of forest and environmental clearance in mineral block auction process to the Central government for seamless continuation of mining operations.
ICC also informed that India produces 150 million tonne of low grade minerals and out of that 80 million tonne is produced in Odisha alone. If we are able to add value to these minerals, then iron ore shortage will get over in a few years.
