18 closed
iron ore mines in the eastern Indian coastal province of Orissa cannot be reopened within any definite timeframe since legal challenges are pending in various courts, a senior local government official told SteelOrbis on Wednesday, February 25.
Steel mills in Orissa and in the eastern region are facing acute raw material shortages but, despite the best efforts of the provincial government, the 18 closed mines cannot be reopened as the outcomes of legal processes cannot be anticipated and so deadlines have not been set for their reopening, the official said.
Last year, 26 mines including 18
iron ore mines and other manganese mines were forced to close down in Orissa following an Indian Supreme Court order which held that these mines were operating under the "deemed under extension" category which the court held as illegal.
Subsequent to the order, several of these miners went to court challenging the provincial government's move to cancel the deemed extension leases and put these mines up for fresh allocation through the auction route, the official said.
He went on to say that the 18 mines will be reopened but only after "due process of law is completed and once clarity has emerged on adoption of the auction route for their allocation, and hence no deadline can be set.