Sesa urges Govt to lift ban on ore transporation
PTI, PANAJI | 18 July 2012 19:13 IST
Sesa Goa, a subsidiary of Vedanta group, has written to the state government seeking lifting of ban on transportation of iron ore during monsoon, which has resulted in shortage of raw material required to run two of its plants.
In a letter to District Collector (South) N D Agarwal written this week, Sesa Goa said they will have to shut down both the Pig Iron Plant (PIP) and metallurgical coke plant situated in Amona village of Bicholim taluka and lay-off workers as their raw material is drying up.
Both the plants require 3,200 tonnes of iron ore daily to run their operation, the company has said, demanding permission to ply 1,000 trucks daily between their mining site at Codli in South Goa and Amona, where the plants are located.
The letter has mentioned that total 780 direct employees will have to be laid-off, besides an additional 404 workers who are attached to 28 different labour contractors, who have been outsourced the jobs.
The company has also expressed worries over operation of power generating plant, which was working on the by-products generated from both the plants.
The PIP has an annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes per annum.
The supply of iron ore from Karnataka has also become scarce and very costly due to closure of all mines there, as per the Supreme Court order and stocks getting sold in e-auction.
Sesa has invested about Rs 650 crore which is the single largest investment in a manufacturing facility in Goa in last four-five years.
The new plant is ready for commissioning, the company officials stated.
