Odisha’s iron ore output likely to fall by 16%

Bhubaneswar, Dec 20

Odisha’s iron ore production is likely to fall by 16 percent to 65 million tonne in the financial year ending March 2015 due to restrictions and crackdown on illegal mining, an official said here Saturday.

The state had produced 77 million tonnes of iron ore last fiscal. This year the production would be around 65 million tonnes, a senior state mines department official told IANS.

He said the state produced about 30 million tonne of iron ore by the end of November this financial year against 34 million tonne it produced in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Several iron ore mines in the state have remained shut after the Supreme Court in May this year held that mines operating on second or subsequent lease renewals shouldn’t be allowed to operate until the state government agrees to renew them. (IANS)