The government of eastern Indian state of Odisha is considering allocating substantial iron ore and chrome assets to Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha’s (Idcol) steelmaking facilities and thereby make it more attractive for KIOCL Limited to buy a majority stake in these plants, an Indian steel ministry official said on Wednesday, November 23.
KIOCL, formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited, has submitted a proposal to buy a 55 percent equity stake in Idcol’s Kalinganagar Iron Works Limited and in Idcol Ferrochrome and Alloys Limited.
The official said that KIOCL’s proposal to secure a majority stake submitted to the Odisha government stipulated that the plants of Idcol should “have sustainable raw material assets” and that the proposed equity purchase will be conditional on the state government ensuring the same.
According to the official, the Odisha government has already commenced an exercise to identify suitable iron ore and chrome ore reserves which could be provided to Idcol and would sweeten the deal for KIOCL.
Idcol’s Kalinganagar plant has the capacity to produce 180,000 mt per year of pig iron and about 32,000 mt per year of cast iron spun pipes.
KIOCL was primarily an iron ore pelletization company but did not have any mining assets under its control.