SAIL to explore new ore deposits

In order to meet the future requirement of iron ore, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) plans to explore new iron ore deposits in the states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha and Karnataka.

The company wants to implement new ore mining project as it plans to raise its steel making capacity by up to 50 per cent to 21 million tonne by this fiscal.

In its annual report for 2012-13, the state-run steel maker said it meets all its ore requirements through captive iron ore mines and had produced 21.48 million tonne (mn t) of ore in 2012-13 to produce 13.4 crude steel.

The firm expects to commission majority of its Rs 72,000 crore expansion programme by March, 2014. This would raise its hot metal production capacity -- the benchmark for steel production capacity -- to over 21 mn t by this time.

But this would also lead to over 50 per cent jump in iron ore requirement for the company to about 34 mn tpa as 1.6 mn t ore is generally used to produce 1 mn t steel.