Kolkata, Jan 06: State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd has said it was considering a proposal from Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd for giving a part of Chiria iron ore mine for the latter's Vizag steel plant. Admitting that RINL authorities had approached SAIL for a part of Chiria mine, SAIL chairman V S Jain told, "They want a part of Chiria. We have to examine all pros and cons before taking a decision.”
Asked how long it will take to arrive at a decision, he said RINL had made a request and it was in the process of being examined. "Apart from SAIL, Indian iron and steel company and some other parties are also involved in it.”
Securing a captive ore mine was very vital for RINL which has prepared a roadmap for expansion of VSP to a 10 million tonne plant and was considering advancing its implementation to 2015 instead of 2020 as planned earlier.
RINL chairman-cum-managing director B K Panda had earlier said he had formally written to Jain for carrying out mining in a part of Chiria, the lease for which belonged to Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO), a subsidiary of SAIL.
Panda also said the Union Steel Ministry has given its nod to RINL for carrying out mining at Chiria, having a huge deposit of around 2000 mt of good quality ore.
Though Jain did not say how much area of Chiria RINL had asked for, the RINL CMD said his company would be interested in an area having a deposit of at least 200 to 300 mt of ore. Bureau Report