Vedanta group firm Sesa Goa aims to produce about 20 million tonnes of iron ore next financial year as the firm is hopeful of the mining ban in Karnataka being lifted soon.

Mr PK Mukherjee MD of Sesa Goa in an earnings call said that "I am an optimist... I can not imagine in my wildest dreams that Karnataka will not come in the next financial year. The production from the state will not be less than 6 million tonne per annum. In Goa, it will be almost at the same levels (as of this fiscal).”

He said that the company expects to produce about 14 million tonnes from Goa in the current fiscal.

Talking about Karnataka, Mr Mukherjee said Sesa Goa is ready to restart its operations in the state as and when the ban on mining imposed by the Supreme Court gets lifted. He said that "I am the smartest guy in Karnataka. The moment the whistle is blown, I will be the first person to restart the operations while admitting that all mines in the state may not be allowed to start at one go.”

The Vedanta group firm has a producing iron ore mine of about 6 million tonne per annum capacity in Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

However, it had stopped production, like all other miners in the state, post imposition of the mining ban by the apex court due to large scale environmental degradation in these areas.

(Sourced from www.deccanherald.com)