 "Essar Steel bags letter of intent to develop iron ore block in Odisha")
The Odisha government has issued the letter of intent to Essar Steel after it emerged as the preferred bidder in the first iron ore block offered for e-auctions in Odisha.
A robust bidding helped the steel maker to bag the Ghorhaburhani-Sagasahi iron ore block, upstaging strong contenders like Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) and JSW Steel. The block is at G2 exploration stage and located in Koira sector in Sundargarh district. The block, with deposits of 99.54 million tonnes, has been reserved for integrated steel plant as end use.
“We have issued the letter of intent (LoI) to Essar Steel. The LoI is valid for three years from the date of issue. Within this period, Essar has to obtain all statutory clearances. After receipt of the necessary permits, we will execute a mine production cum development agreement with the steel company," said Deepak Mohanty, director (mines), Odisha.
Essar Steel had emerged as the H1 bidder, quoting a price of 44.3 per cent over the reserve price of the block. The first ever iron ore block auction in Odisha held recently has fetched a better response compared to other mineral bearing states. The financial bids for the auctions were completed after seven steel firms had qualified in technical bidding. Tata Steel, JSPL, JSW Steel, Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel Ltd, Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd and Rashtriya Ispat & Nigam Ltd (RINL) had submitted technical bids.
Essar Steel runs a 12 million tonne per annum (mtpa) iron ore beneficiation plant at Dabuna in Keonjhar district and six mtpa pelletisation complex at Paradeep.
The mineral concession area is spread over 139.16 hectares (ha) including 20.88 ha forest land, 110.69 ha government land and the balance 7.58 ha private land. Survey of the mineral block has been done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
