By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 18, 2016 : Odisha will challenge the Odisha High Court’s recent direction to the state government to allow the Company to transport over 12 million tons worth nearly Rs 2000 crore that the company had purchased from Sarada Mines Pvt Ltd (SMPL).

“We will be filing a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the high court order,” state mines director Deepak Kumar Mohanty told reporters.

The High Court in April 8 this year had asked the state government to allow JSPL to transport its legally purchased iron ore fines and lumps lying within the leasehold area of SMPL to the company’s 10 million ton pellet plant at Barbil in Keonjhar district and railway siding.

Despite the order, JSPL has been forced to buy around 6 lakh tonnes of iron ore every month from the market.

On its petition, the HC last week direct the state to comply with its order in four weeks.

Naveen Jindal’s company has been sourcing ore from SMPL’s Thakurani mines for decades, and has built assets — a pellet and beneficiation plant. The 12 mt of iron ore, in the form of fines and lumps, was acquired by JSPL over the years for which it has paid the state royalty and taxes.

In 2014, Odisha barred JSPL from transporting the ore as the mine’s environment clearance had lapsed.