Supreme Court Defers Karnataka Mining Ban Decision To April 20

Karnataka-based steel and iron ore-based companies will have to wait for some more time as the Supreme Court has deferred its decision over the mining ban issue. Earlier the decision was deferred from March 30 to April 13 and now it has been postponed to April 20. The delay in arriving at a firm decision is definitely going to impact the steel companies operating in the region of Karnataka, especially JSW Steel that has 90 per cent of its production emanating from this state.

The company is finding itself in a precarious position due to the ongoing shortage of iron ore. In February it reduced its production level from 89 to 65 per cent of the utilisation levels due to the poor quality of iron ore supply from the available stock piles in the region. Even NMDC, which had been asked to supply 1 million tonnes of iron ore per month, has been able to supply only half of that due to logistic issues.

The current available iron ore in the stock pile will not last much longer and the steel companies are waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision to at least re-open a few of the ‘A’ category mines immediately. Sesa Goa too is bearing the brunt of the ban with the production of their iron ore having been seriously affected. The only hope for the companies is that the Supreme Court may resolve the issue on April 20. Also Shah Commission report filed with Supreme Court on the illegal mining in Goa and other states may further impact iron ore supply in the country.