BHUBANESWAR, Sep 7: Jindal Steel and Power Ltd(JSPL) Chairman Naveen Jindal on Saturday sought steps toprovide raw material security and to reserve iron ore minesfor companies which have set up steel plants in Odisha.
In a meeting with top state government officialsincluding Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy and Secretaries ofSteel and Mines, Industry and Water Resources, Jindalemphasised the need to give preference in iron ore auction tocompanies which have already invested in Odisha.”Companies which have invested thousands of crores insteel plants and have created employment in thousands shouldbe given preference in auction of iron ore. We have requestedfor giving iron ore mines first for captive consumption andthen for merchant mining,”Jindal said after the meeting.
JSPL has invested Rs 47,000 crore in Odisha to set upthe largest steel plant in the state.The comapny has a very small mine, which is neardepletion and does not have captive iron ore and coal minesfor the plant, he said.”Our investment in Odisha needs raw material securityto become viable,” Jindal said.
He said JSPL buys about one million tonne iron oreevery month in Odisha and becomes the largest buyer of the rawmaterial in the state.JSPL Chairman also demanded reduction in ironore price as global steel prices had fallen.”Steel price has been reduced by about 30 per cent.But iron ore price has not been decreased accordingly.
Thereis no reduction in price of coal by Coal India. Thegovernment needs to ensure that people who have invested inthe state are taken care of,” Jindal said.For the first time in the world, JSPL has set up acoal gasification plant along with a 2 MTPA direct reducediron (DRI) facility, based on the coal block allocated to itin Angul.However, the Supreme Court had quashed allocation of214 out of 218 coal blocks allotted to various companies since1993.Jindal was hopeful that the company would secure acoal block, if the Centre starts auction of blocks for steelcompanies and coal gasification projects. (PTI)
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