Vizag Steel Plant facing acute shortage of iron ore

27 November 2017

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, is facing severe iron ore shortage as the rail track on the Kothavalasa-Kirandul (K-K) line has been damaged.

Iron ore to the steel plant is sourced from the Bailadila mines of NMDC through the K-K line and there was a landslide at Anathagiri in Visakhapatnam district last month during torrential rains.

The railway bridge and the track were badly damaged in the Eastern Ghats, and repair works are currently going on. Traffic on the line was stopped and iron ore is being supplied to the plant through an alternate route via Rayagada in Odisha.

Depleting stocks

However, according to plant sources, only two or three rakes are arriving every day and stocks are getting depleted at a very fast rate. The plant needs 5-10 rakes of iron ore daily to maintain its present production levels.

Efforts are being made to replenish the stocks from Odisha or Karnataka. Railway sources say the traffic on the K-K line may be restored only in the second or third week of December and till then the steel plant has to contend with the problem.

Source: Hindu Business Line