Bhubaneswar: With the closure of several iron ore mines due to non-payment of penalties imposed by the Supreme Court, the slow production of iron ore is set to affect the steel industry.
Keeping this in mind, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), the central PSU, has offered its services to run the recently closed iron ore mines in the state. An NMDC team recently met Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi in this regard and offered the proposal. The CMD of the corporation, N Baijendra Kumar, has also written to the state government in this regard, sources said Friday.
NMDC officials expressed their interest to restart the closed iron ore mines subject to allocation under relevant provisions of Mines and Minerals Development Regulations Act, 2015. NMDC is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel and is the single largest iron ore producer in the country. According to sources, approximately 20 million tonnes of iron ore production has been affected due to the closure of mines in the state.
PNN
