Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), which is now charting expansion programmes worth Rs 37,000 crore, is looking for new iron ore mines and renewal of its existing mines.
Senior officials of SAIL are now visiting iron ore-bearing states to expedite the process of leasing out new mines and renewal of the old ones. The Central-sector steel behemoth has also urged the Orissa government to accelerate the process of granting prospecting licence for two iron ore mines and renewal of the existing ones as the company requires raw material to meet demands from the expansion projects.
A high-level team from SAIL, comprising director (personnel) Ganatantra Ojha and executive director (material division) Kiran Kapoor, met the chief secretary, Ajit Kumar Tripathy, and made the formal requests, recently.
According to SAIL officials, the PL for Thakurani mines and Horomotto mines should be expedited. They have requested the state government for renewal of the mining leases for Barsuan and Kalta iron ore mines. Sail is proposing to expand its steel making capacity to 22.5 million tonne from 14.5 million tonne over the next five years. Expansion plans of the company envisage an investment of around Rs 4,590 crore for Rourkela Steel Plant, Rs 9000 crore for Bokaro Steel Plant, Rs 6340 crore for Bhilai Steel Plant and Rs 2840 crore for Durgapur Steel Plant.