India’s Ministry of Steel has mandated KIOCL Limited (formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited) to undertake iron ore exploration projects in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, ministry officials said on Tuesday, January 23.
The officials said that the mandate is aimed towards diversification of KIOCL Limited which will also result in backward integration of the primarily iron ore pellet producer and ensure raw material security for the company which does not have any captive iron ore mine at present.
Incidentally, KIOCL and government-owned steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) have signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a 1.2 million mt pellet plant at RINL’s current steel mill located in the port town of Vishakhapatnam.
The iron ore exploration project, once it establishes viable deposits in Karnataka, will also be able to make supplies to the joint venture pellet plant as RINL also does not have any captive iron ore mine of its own, the officials added.