Centre to resolve SAIL's row with Jharkhand over Chiria

State-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and the Jharkhand government have disagreed on the Chiria mines again, this time on the steel-maker's exact requirement from the prized mines at a meeting convened by the principal secretary in the Prime Minister's Office.

The steel-maker and the state, which have been in disagreement over the possession of Asia's largest high-grade iron ore mine, have now asked the ministry of mines to arbitrate and determine through experts what should be SAIL's requirement from the mines for the next 50 years.

According to government sources, while SAIL has quoted a requirement of 2 billion tonnes of ore for the next 50 years, the Jharkhand government has estimated it at 1 billion tonnes.

The mines ministry will now appoint experts to determine the country's largest steel-maker's requirement for its two plants in Jharkhand "" in Bokaro and Burnpur "" for the said time period.

The final assessment is expected in a month after which the state and the steel-maker will have to come to an agreement on the issue.

Private players like Mittal Steel and Tata Steel have also been eyeing the mines, which have proven reserves of 2.5 billion tonnes of high grade ore.

Last October, the former announced a 12-million-tonne steel plant in the state with an investment of Rs 40,000-45,000 crore, after being promised a share in the mines. Subsequently, after it saw no forward movement on the issue, Mittal Steel started looking for other options like setting up the plant in Orissa.

At present, SAIL's Bokaro plant produces 4 million tonnes of steel per annum, while the Burnpur plant has an output of 0.5 MT. The firm plans to hike this capacity to 15 MT at the former and 5 MT at the latter by 2020.