SAIL resumes Barsua iron ore mines after four years, following SC nod

28th May 2018

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has resumed production at its Barsua iron ore mines after a gap of four years. Barsua iron ore mines fall under the jurisdiction of SAIL’s raw material department (RMD) and primarily feed the company’s steel plants at Rourkela and Bokaro, apart from other units.

The timing of the reopening of SAIL’s Barsua mines coincides with the firing of the Parvati blast furnace at its Rourkela unit. Rebuilt with state-of-the-art technology, the blast furnace was lighted on May 8. It has a capacity to produce 1.015 million tonnes of hot metal a year.

SAIL is ramping up hot metal production, and the enhanced requirement of iron ore will be met by the mines of RMD. In the current fiscal, RMD’s mines in Odisha and Jharkhand are set to produce about 24.50 million tonnes of iron ore. Barsua’s production will be integral to achieve the target.

Production at Barsua was discontinued in May 2014 due to certain legal issues. The Supreme Court disposed the case in SAIL’s favour on May 11 this year and allowed Barsua iron mine to resume production, read a SAIL release.

Source: BUSINESS STANDARD