NINL staff hopeful with likely revival of mining
Mining major NMDC comes forward to provide technical and financial support to the ailing mining company
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Visakhapatnam: MINING major NMDC coming forward to provide technical and financial assistance to Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) to resume mining of iron ore recently at Mithirda mines in Odisha has raised a fresh hope among the employees that the Centre will withdraw the disinvestment process.
The employees who are on agitation path for over a year have been denied wages after suspension of the operation of its 1.1 million tonne integrated steel plant in Jajpur district of Odisha. The Centre has already started the disinvestment process and Tata Steel has submitted its bid to buy stake in the company along with other prominent manufacturers.
The employees have been demanding merger of NINL with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL)/Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL)/NMDC.
To retain it in the public sector. RINL's loan liability has increased to Rs 22,000 crore mainly due to high rate of interest and high production cost for captive iron ore mines. Andhra Pradesh Government has urged the Centre to immediately allot captive mines in Odisha to reduce production cost of RINL and retain it in the public sector.
NINL is a joint venture company in which MMTC, IPICOL, OMC, NMDC and others have equity. Iron ore mining will help meet scarcity in Odisha and meet financial hurdles faced by the company.
Ajit Kumar Pradhan, general secretary, Neelachal Executive Association (NEA), told Bizz Buzz that the employees of NINL are happy over revival of mining operations. Considering the capacity of the plant 1.1 million tonnes, NINL was granted mining lease) over an area of 1,798.338 hectares in Koira block of Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts of Odisha for its captive use through non-auction route. He said the mining lease was granted to NINL in 1999. Revised Mining Lease of 874.29 hectare with approximate reserve of 110 million tonnes was granted in 2009. To get all clearance for mines about two decades were spent. As a result NINL has straightway incurred a loss of more than Rs 1,500 crore towards procurement of iron ore.
Pradhan said after the decision of strategic disinvestment of 100 percent of shares in NINL taken by the Central Government, major promoter MMTC as well as other minor promoters have stopped further funding for running of the plant leading to suspension of production of all units from March, 2020 during Covid-19 lockdown period.
