Indian steelmaker Tata Steel has announced that mining operations commenced in its Joda East, Katamati, Bamebari and Joda West iron ore and manganese mines in Odisha on December 15, 2014, after remaining suspended for one month.
According to Tata Steel, the company has been operating its mines in Odisha and Jharkhand for several decades with all statutory clearances, forest clearances and consent to operate. Tata Steel also submitted the applications for renewal of its mines in Jharkhand and Odisha well before the expiry of the leases as stipulated under the law. The company's operation in Jamshedpur steel plant is equally dependent on its mines in Jharkhand and Odisha.
Apart from the suspended operations at its Odisha mines, operations at the Noamundi iron ore mine in Jharkhand were also halted, forcing Tata Steel to reduce production by temporarily stopping one of its blast furnaces and operate below its capacity for more than a month in the last quarter ending December 31.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in early December last year Tata Steel had to buy iron ore for the first time in its history due to closure of its mines in Jharkhand and Odisha.