Restricted supplies and rising prices of natural gas posed problems for the sponge iron industry, and the future of the sector lay in coal, B K Tripathy, Union minister of steel, said at the 10th annual general meeting of the Sponge Iron Manufacturers' Association. The minister also inaugurated the association's website at the meeting.
Tripathy said a large number of small coal-based sponge iron plants were being set up in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and Chattisgarh. A few big coal-based sponge iron plants were also being planned in some of those states, he said.