India’s ministry of mines has issued a cautionary note to state-run iron ore miners that the Indian government will take action unless non-operational mines are operationalized and output levels are increased with a specified time frame, government sources said on Tuesday, September 30.
India’s ministry of mines has issued a cautionary note to state-run iron ore miners that the Indian government will take action unless non-operational mines are operationalized and output levels are increased with a specified time frame, government sources said on Tuesday, September 30.
Such cautionary notes have been issued to Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).
While the ministry has not specified a timeframe to show improved iron ore output, it said that measures to increase production levels should be defined and declared within October and thereafter monthly production should show growth on year-on-year basis.
If the miners fail to show growth in iron ore output, the government would consider re-allocation of the mines through fresh auctions of mining leases, transfer the mining leases to other government-run companies or even levy an export tax, the sources said.
However, neither SAIL nor OMC have officially specified the number of non-operational iron ore mines under their control. SAIL produced 33.78 million mt of iron ore in 2024-25 from its 15 mining licenses held across the states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, while OMC produced 35.7 million mt in 2024-25 from its mines in Odisha.
The government’s move to come down heavily on state-run miners to ramp up output in the short term and not keep assets idle has been prompted by a forecast that the country could be looking at a domestic shortage of iron ore by 2030.
According to estimates of the Indian Bureau of Mines, if the domestic finished steel production target of 350 million mt is to be achieved by 2030, the country could be facing an iron ore shortage of 22-25 million mt per year.