It is reported that the government of Indian state Jharkhand has agreed to recognise India's state-owned steel giant SAIL as the owner of the Chiria iron ore mines, which have estimated reserves of 2 billion metric tons of ore with an iron content of over 62 percent.
"The central government will try to persuade the Jharkhand government to renew mining leases in favour of SAIL in the next 100 days," said the Indian Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh. He added that the Jharkhand state government has accepted that SAIL has acquired Indian steelmaker IISCO, which had been originally allotted the Chiria mines.
Minister Singh said that the Jharkhand state government has issued orders for the acceptance of the change in the ownership of the Chiria leases from IISCO to SAIL.
SAIL wants an early renewal of the leases to be able to supply its proposed expanded capacity of 26.3 million metric tons by the Indian financial year 2011-12.