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Chhattisgarh puts cap on NMDC export

Chhattisgarh government said that state run National Mineral Development Corporation should export the steel-making raw material only after meeting state’s requirement.

Dr Raman Singh chief minister of Chattisgarh said in the state legislative assembly on Tuesday that “Of the total iron-ore produced, NMDC is providing only 2.71 million tonnes to the local industrialists in Chhattisgarh. The remaining world-class iron-ore endowed to the state is being exported while the local steel makers are reeling under raw material crises.”

He told “The NMDC should first meet the total requirement of iron-ore in the state and then export the remaining stock.”

He would mount pressure on the mining major in this connection, the chief minister hinted.

The NMDC has a major operation in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. Of the three fully mechanized mines that it own, two are located in Bailadila sector mines of Naxal-infested Dantewada district. NMDC is presently producing 30 million tonnes of iron ore, of which Bailadila sector mines share 22 million tonnes.

For the last couple of years, Chhattisgarh government had been asking NMDC to increase the quota of iron ore for the local industrialists. The senior state officials have also held several rounds of discussion with the NMDC officials in this connection.