Bhubaneswar: After 28 hours of aggressive bidding, Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel bagged Ganua iron ore block in Sundargarh district by committing to pay 132 per cent of sale value of the ore to the state government.
The block was reserved for specified end use for sponge iron, steel or pellet plants with the lease period ending March 31. Ganua has an estimated ore reserve of 118.92 million tonnes.
JSW emerged as the highest bidder for the mineral block with 118-million tonne reserves beating its competitors KJS Ahluwalia, Rungta Mines Ltd, Shyam Steel Industries Ltd and Amalgam Steel & Power Ltd.
JSW Steel has already won the largest iron ore block, the Nuagaon mine, with estimated reserve of around 790 million tonnes (MT) Friday after winning Narayanposhi iron block with 190 MT reserves last Sunday beating players like ArcelorMittal, Vedanta, Adani group etc.
“JSW Steel today (Wednesday) won another mine Ganua. This is the third consecutive mine it has won with 118 MT at 132 per cent premium. Another plus point for the company is that all these mines are operational,” the source said.
Securing iron ore linkages in Odisha was very important for JSW Steel as the company is planning a green field steel project of 12 MTPA in the state at an investment amount of over `53,000 crore.
With bagging of Ganua mine, the Sajjan Jindal-led steel company now has an assured linkage of over 1,100 MT iron ore reserves in Odisha to meet its future needs in the state and elsewhere.
“All the three wins will give JSW Steel around 25 MTPA of captive iron ore for its plants. Also, it has won six category C- Mines in last year in Karnataka which are now fully operational providing another 7-8 MTPA of iron ore,” according to an expert.
Jharkhand-based Shaym Ores bags the Jilling Langlota mines with committing to pay 135 per cent of ore value to the state government.
Among the nine technically qualified bidders, Adani Enterprises, Serajuddin & Co, JSW Steel, Rungta’s Feegrade and Essel Mining Industries have emerged as the top contenders. The block has an ore reserve of 72.84 million tonnes.
Tuesday, Serajuddin and Co retained Balda iron ore block during the auction that went on till 2.41am. ArcelorMittal India Pvt Ltd had won Thakurani iron ore block that was auctioned Monday.
After the annulment of three notices inviting tender (NIT) in October 2019 for auction of iron ore and manganese blocks because of conflicts between participating bidders, the Odisha government released an NIT for 20 iron ore and manganese blocks December 6, 2019.
While 15 of the 20 mines being auctioned predominantly have iron ore, three have both iron ore and manganese, the remaining are primarily manganese reserves.
The 18 mines containing iron ore reserves together hold 1,600 million tonne of which 33 per cent (five mines) are reserved for specified end-use (captive usage). These are old mines where leases are set to expire in March 2020.
