Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Steel

17-December-2012 16:31 IST

The Minister of Steel, Shri Beni Prasad Verma has said that as per information available in the Ministry of Steel, there are about 431 number of Sponge Iron Plants set up across the country including Chhattisgarh (Source: Annual Statistics of JPC for the year 2010-11).

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today he said, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) supplies iron ore to some of the Sponge Iron Units in the country and it is not the sole supplier of iron ore to these units.

During the year 2011-12, NMDC supplied 54.99 lakh tonnes of iron ore to various Sponge Iron Manufacturers from its mines in Chhattisgarh. The iron ore produced by NMDC from its mines in Karnataka is e-auctioned to consumers as per directions of the Supreme Court since September 2011. During 2011-12 iron ore production in the country was about 167 million tonnes (Provisional as per IBM) which was more than the consumption of iron ore in the country during the year. NMDC has planned to increase its iron ore production from the existing capacity of 32 MTPA to 45 MTPA by the year 2014-15. To ensure better availability to the domestic consumers, a high rate of Customs Duty of 30% has been imposed on the export of all kinds of iron ore (except pellets).

Shri Verma said, Steel is a deregulated sector and a steel producer may source iron ore from anywhere in the country. Ministry of Steel does not keep records about sourcing of iron ore by various steel producers including the secondary sector. No instance of ban on transportation of iron ore by the State of Odisha has come to the notice of this Ministry.

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NSK/DB

Steel deregulation allows producers to source iron ore freely; export duty imposed to secure domestic availability. NMDC supplies iron ore to some sponge iron units but is not the sole supplier; its Karnataka output is sold via e auction per judicial directions. National production exceeded consumption in the cited year, NMDC plans capacity increases, and a high Customs duty on iron ore exports (except pellets) has been imposed to favour domestic availability. Steel is deregulated, allowing producers to source ore from anywhere, and the Ministry does not keep records of individual producers' sourcing; no notice of Odisha imposing a transport ban was reported to the Ministry.