BS reported that Steel Authority of India Limited has lined up an investment of INR 4,000 crore for implementation of its various mining projects in Orissa.

SAIL’s investment in these mining projects is a part of its INR 54,000 crore mega expansion plan according to which the company has targeted a steel output of 26 million tonne per annum by 2010-11.

The expansion plan aims to enhance the capacity of SAIL’s steel plants as well as mines. The raw materials division of SAIL has projected to produce 30 million tonne per annum of iron ore to meet the requirement of the steel plants in the eastern region.

As per report, the board of directors of SAIL had recently cleared an investment of INR 255 crore for scaling up capacity of Bolani iron ore mines in Orissa’s Keonjhar district from the existing 4.2 million tonne to 10 million tonne.

The capacity expansion project of Bolani iron mines includes enhancement of plant capacity, modification of dumping platform for high capacity dumper, tailing management, state of the art technology for GPS and CCTV based mines monitoring system and procurement of higher capacity heavy earth moving machinery.

The repot added that plans are also afoot to set up a 4 million tonne pelletization pant with improved iron ore beneficiation technology at Bolani for quality improvement and lower tailings. Earlier SAIL had begun work for enhancement of loading facilities at Bolani mines with an investment of INR 120 crore.

(Sourced from Business Standard)