Mittal Steel seeks ore supply surety from J'khand

Close on the heels of Posco threatening to withdraw from Orissa if it was denied captive mines, Mittal Steel has sought a letter of comfort from the Jharkhand government assuring it of requisite iron ore for its 12 mt steel plant in the state.

"We have asked the Jharkhand government to provide us with the letter of comfort assuring us of providing iron ore required for our greenfield project in the state within 2 months, from the Chiria mines after sorting out nitty-gritties with the central government," Sanak Mishra, CEO
(Jharkhand) of Mittal Steel, said.

The steel maker is unable to commence its work for the Asteel mines unless the government extends the assurance. "Any delay in providing the letter of comfort only adds to further delay in commencing work for plant entailing time delays coupled with cost overruns," Mishra said.

Mittal Steel has demanded 600 million metric tonnes of iron ore from the Chiria mines for the first 30 years to meet its operational needs.

State-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has been allocated a part of the reserve from the Chiria mines and the battle of nerves has intensified among the domestic steel utilities and Mittal Steel for ensuring reserves from other parts of the mines.

Meanwhile, a Tata Steel official said it too has been assured of iron ore supply from the Chiria mines by the state government. But it remains to be seen as to how the Jharkhand government would provide iron ore to all these steel giants as the exact amount of ore in the mines was yet to be ascertained.