Question : Demand and Supply of Iron Ore

(a) whether any assessment has been made regarding required iron ore for the steel sector keeping in view the ongoing projects in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether any expansion scheme including perspective plan has been formulated by the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) regarding requirement, availability, demand and supply of steel/iron ores for the next thirty years;

(d) if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether the public sector steel companies have been requested to optimise the use of raw materials to ensure its operational efficiency; and

(f) if so, the efforts made by the public sector companies in this regard and the outcome thereof?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF (SHRI VISHNU DEO SAI)
STEEL AND MINES

(a)&(b): As per Report of the Working Group on Steel for the 12th Five Year Plan (FYP), the projected requirement of iron ore in the country for 2016-17 would be about 206 MT.

(c)&(d): SAIL has prepared “Vision 2025” plan under which hot metal production capacities of the SAIL steel plants would increase to 50.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2025-26 in phases. SAIL would require 95.76 million tonnes of run-off mine (ROM) iron ore per annum for production of 50.4 million tonnes per annum of hot metal.

(e)&(f): PSUs are optimizing the use of raw materials to ensure its operational efficiency by different means like using beneficiation and pelletization of iron ores, optimization of coal blend and utilization of metallurgical wastes, substitution of cheaper nut coke in place of blast furnace coke, pulverized coal injection in blast furnace to partially replace costly coke.

********