'SAIL to be allotted 1 bn tonnes of iron ore reserves'

New Delhi, Dec 11: One billion tonnes of iron ore reserves of Chiria and Gua mines of Jharkhand have been recommended for allotment to public sector SAIL, Union Minister of State for Mines T Subbarami Reddy today said.

This was decided in a joint meeting conducted by the Central Government with the state government and SAIL for renewal of existing mining leases of SAIL, he said replying to questions regarding the action taken by the Government to resolve the problem faced by SAIL in renewal of mining leases in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

The Minister said in a written reply that of the remaining one billion tonnes under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered into between the Jharkhand Government and SAIL, it was recommended creation of additional steel capacity of 12-15 million tonnes.

In Chhattisgarh, an area of 2028.797 hectares had been reserved by the Centre in "F" block deposit of Rowghat in Kanker and Bastar districts in favour of SAIL.

He clarified that states, as owners of mineral grant mining leases did not require the prior approval of the Centre for renewal of mining leases for minerals according to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.

To another question, he said only 10 families out of 635 families displaced due to projects of National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) at Angul and Damanjodi were still to get employment, he said.

"At present no family is being displaced as a result of the ongoing outsourcing work of the company," Dr Reddy said.

Nominees of all displaced families could not be offered employment at one go, he told the members. Hence, employment was being provided in phases.

Per capita availability of iron ore in India, Australia and Brazil worked out to 23 tonnes, 1,991 tonnes and 328 tonnes respectively, he said adding that as per available information, finished steel production in the country in 2004-05 was 42.3 million tonnes and the country exported 6.75 million tonnes of iron and steel during this period.

Export of natural stones such as granite, marble or sand stone and other building stones has grown to Rs 4,332 crore during 2005-06, Dr Reddy said in reply to another question.

UNI