New Delhi: The mineral wealth of the country cannot be allowed to be “buried in the ground to frustrate the objective of Atmanirbhar Bharat,” the Modi government told the Supreme Court this week, while opposing a plea to cap production of iron ore in Odisha.
The Union Ministry of Mines and Minerals laid emphasis on the “importance of robust indigenous and self-sufficient steel industry for realising the vision of a ‘Developed India by 2047′.”
The ministry’s affidavit spoke of the “Make In India” initiative, which, it said, is expected to witness significant investments in construction, infrastructure, automobile, shipbuilding and the powers sectors. This would raise demand for steel, which is produced from iron ore, requiring stimulation of resources, the ministry added.
According to the affidavit accessed by ThePrint, the demand for crude steel would be 300 million tonnes per year by 2030-31, for which about 437 million tonnes of iron ore production would be needed. Hence, it said, the growth in iron ore production in Odisha “is planned in cohesion with the current growth rate and envisaged augmentation of resources”.
On Monday the government affidavit was placed before a three-judge bench, which asked for a fresh assessment of the Odisha region where iron ore mining is under operation. This assessment, the bench suggested, should be done by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).
The court is hearing an application filed by not-for-profit organisation Common Cause, which has contended that there is a need to impose a cap on iron ore mining in Odisha because there are limited reserves in the state, which are “liable to come to an end within twenty years”.
The ministry’s affidavit gives an insight into Odisha’s share in iron ore production, rubbishing Common Cause’s claim of scarcity of iron ore as “wholly unfounded”. According to the ministry, the obvious geological potential (OGP) in Odisha is about 15 percent of the total OGP area for iron ore in the country. OGP means the potential mineral-bearing areas.
Yet, only 28.48 percent of the total OGP area in the state has been covered for iron ore exploration, leaving more than 71 percent area unexplored, according to the ministry. Even in the explored area, the 58 iron ore-producing working mines account for only 6.3 percent of OGP, which means that even these areas have not been fully utilised.
With this partial exploration also, iron ore production in Odisha has increased 10 times in the last two decades — from 14.38 million tonnes in 2000-01 to 140.43 million tonnes during 2022-23 — the ministry affidavit pointed out. Resultantly, Odisha’s contribution to India’s iron ore production has increased from 20 percent in 2000-02 to more than 54 percent in 2022-23, it added.
Similarly, the resources in Odisha too have increased — from 4,180 million tonnes in 2000 to 9737.24 million tonnes in 2023, which, the affidavit described as a “phenomenal increase of nearly 133 percent in resource augmentation”. The resource augmentation of iron ore in Odisha has been at the rate of 3.22 times the rate of its production in the last 20 years. This means, the affidavit asserted, that resources of any mineral are not static and with constant efforts they can increase in numbers.
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‘Iron ore resource base more than its production’
Overall, the resource base for iron ore is more than its production in the country. During the three field seasons from 2019-2022, Geological Survey of India (GSI) alone has augmented 784.20 million tonnes of iron ore resources in the country. This is more than the all-India production of the mineral during the corresponding period, said the ministry’s affidavit.
Similarly, the affidavit pointed out, the Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), a PSU of the ministry, has augmented 600.2 million tonnes of iron ore resources in the past five years. Of these, more than 557 million tonnes were in Odisha.
The ministry cited its various policies rolled out in the past few years in support of its stand. The National Steel Policy of 2017, zero waste mining policy and the National Mineral Policy of 2019 have ensured the resources of the mineral do not depreciate and, rather, increase, it said.
Currently, the affidavit noted, the per capita consumption of 77.2 kg steel was much lower than the global average of 208 kg. Even the projected per capita consumption of 158 kg steel by 2030-31 would be lower than the global consumption. Only an adequate steel infrastructure can make the per capita steel consumption in India comparable to the global standards, the affidavit added.
“It is stated that India is currently on a high-growth trajectory with the overall objective of achieving broad-based improvement in living standards of all sections of the society. To fully harness its growth potential, the country requires creation of infrastructure such as airports, railways, bridges, ports, real estate, manufacturing etc. In all of these, indigenous production of steel will be extremely crucial,” the affidavit said.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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