SC order a death blow to steel sector in Karnataka

Bengaluru : Bangalore/27 Aug 11 | 12:26 AM:The Supreme Court directive to suspend iron ore mining activities with immediate effect in Karnataka’s Chitradurga and Tumkur districts will be the last nail in the coffin for iron and steel manufacturers in the state. The two southeastern districts account for about 20 per cent of the state’s annual iron ore production of about 45 million tonnes.

Mining operations have already ceased in upstate Bellary district, which contributes 80 per cent of Karnataka’s iron ore production. The ore produced in Chitradurga and Tumkur are of low grade, and mainly exported to China.

The state’s pig iron, sponge iron and steel manufacturers, who were working on a thin supply of iron ore from these two districts, will have to shut down their blast furnaces within a week as the SC has ordered the complete halt to mining, industry sources said. The apex court order is likely to adversely affect JSW Steel. The Sajjan Jindal-led company, after a recent SC ban on mining in Bellary, was depending on supplies from Chitradurga and Tumkur — to the extent of 50 per cent of its requirements. The 1982-founded firm operates a 10-million-tonne-per-annum steel plant at Toranagallu in Bellary.