Nagpur: Fifteen years after securing the first iron ore mining license at Gadchiroli, Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited has now been granted permission to sell the ore even outside Maharashtra. Until now, the company was not allowed to sell ore mined from Surjagarh mines in Gadchiroli outside the state.
The company obtained a mining license in 2007. At that time, the state government also included the covenant.
However, the company argued that the restriction was not only bad in law, but also affected the growth of the project at Gadchiroli. It has been argued that unless it is able to meet demands across the country, the Surjagarh mining project cannot be scaled up to a significant level, also creating more jobs, sources said. .
The clause has not only restricted mining development in Maharashtra, but has also affected the national availability of iron ore – a key natural resource. Restricting the availability of iron ore may also impact steel prices, sources explaining the company’s stance said.
This clause was finally removed more than 20 days ago by the state government. This not only gives the company the freedom to sell the ore out of state, but also to export it, sources said.
Lloyds owns a sponge iron factory at Ghugus in the Chandrapur district. The iron ore reserves available in the Surjagarh mines are far greater than what is needed for the Ghugus factory. The company is also working on setting up another sponge iron plant at Kondseri in Gadchiroli district. Still, there are ample opportunities to sell the ore outside the state, sources said.
The Kondseri plant will be started with an initial capacity of 180 tonnes per day. This is based on the maximum levels for which environmental clearance can be obtained from the state government. Central clearance, which takes longer, would eventually be taken to expand the project, the source said.
The Surjagarh mines have a total capacity of 30 million tons per year. So far, mining has been minimal. Over the years, only nearly a quarter of the total capacity has been extracted cumulatively.
In 2020, Odisha’s Thriveni Earthmovers Ltd took a stake in Lloyds, also taking over the Surjagarh mining project. The work that got stuck earlier took off after that. Prior to this, operations were limited to surface mining. Excavation has also started now.
Last month, the society held a public program in Surjagarh where nomination letters were handed out to residents.