To ensure the location of a greenfield steel project within its own territory, the government of the Indian state of Telangana is seeking iron ore reserves in neighboring states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, a government official said on Monday, November 16.
The official said that, since the state-owned steel producer Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has declared that it will consider constructing a steel mill in Telangana only on assurance of raw material security, the Telengana government has initiated moves to secure preferential allotments of iron ore reserves in neighboring states in India.
The 3 million mt per year steel mill project was to be located at Bayyaram in the Khamman district of Telangana, but the region could only ensure iron ore reserves of 200 million mt and did not meet the requirements of SAIL, which has sought reserves that will supply a minimum of 20 million mt per year for the next 30 years, the official said.
At a meeting of officials of Telengana, SAIL, Indian Railways, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and coal miner Singareni Collieries Limited (SCCL) last week, it was decided that GSI and SCCL will explore iron ore reserves at Bayyaram to supplement raw material supplies for the proposed SAIL steel mill.