Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 28, 2015 :

The Odisha government on Tuesday hiked the supply from 50 to 70 percent of the ore mined in the state to local industries through the state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) apparently to meet the shortage of raw material by the small and large mineral-based industries.

The steel units, however, has nothing to cheer about as the cabinet meeting is silent about the cost of the iron ore price.

“The cabinet meeting is totally silent on price issue, which is the main bone of contention between steel units and the OMC. We are forced to buy the iron ore at market price by the OMC where as those having the iron ore linkage through captive mines has an edge over us. How can we compete? We want the state government to provide a level playing field. Raising the quantity of supply will not solve our problems,” All Odisha Steel Federation [AOSF] president, Purusottam Lal Kandoi told ‘Bizodisha”.

“The quantity of iron ore to be offered under the long-term linkage is to be modified from 50% to 70%, with OMC fixing the exact quantity taking into account its production and demand from local end-users,” chief secretary G. C. Pati told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet approved that public sector undertakings and small-sized end-user plants, which were not eligible for signing MoUs due to low production capacity levels, would also be able to obtain the mineral under the long-term ore linkage policy, said Pati.

The state government has signed MoU with 49 companies for setting up steel plants in Odisha, of which 31 projects have already started full or partial production.

The quantity not disposed through long-term linkage would be offered for sale at the national e-auction.

AOSF alleges that the steel units are starved of iron ore as the OMC sells its produce outside the state for a better price.