India's second largest coal miner Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) will start iron ore mining in the newly-created southern Indian province of Telengana, a provincial government official said on Wednesday, March 18.
The provincial government of Telengana, which has a 51 percent equity stake in SCCL, believes that the company is the best choice for the iron ore reserve development in the province given its vast experience in mining, the official said.
SCCL is expected to commence its maiden iron ore mining venture with the iron ore reserves at Bayyaram in the Khammam district in Telengana, the official added. Once exploration and development of the Bayyaram reserves are in an advanced stage, SCCL will seek investors to set up a steel mill in the province, linked to raw materials from the mines.
Bayyaram, with estimated reserves of about 90 million metric tons of iron ore, was first offered to Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) for setting up a linked steel mill in Telengana, but was turned down by the steelmaker which found the iron ore reserves to be insufficient.
SCCL, which has annual coal production of about 50 million mt, operates 32 underground mines and 16 open cast mines across the coal reserves at the Godavari River Valley which has estimated reserves of 10 billion mt.