India’s KIOCL Limited (formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited) will invest $298 million to set up an iron ore beneficiation plant and another pelletization plant in Bellary, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, a company official said on Friday, February 5.
The official said that the beneficiation plant will have a capacity of 4 million mt per year, while the pellet plant will have a capacity of 2 million mt per year.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the government of Karnataka has identified an iron ore reserve in Bellary for allocation to KIOCL, which does not have any captive raw material source and is dependent on iron ore from NMDC Limited to operate its existing pelletization plant, a Karnataka government official said.
The government official said that the allocation of a captive mine to KIOCL will be a lifeline to the latter’s pelletization plant at Mengaluru which has been threatened by closure in the absence of assured iron ore supplies as it lacks any captive mine.
However, when contacted, the KIOCL official said that the company does not have any information regarding the state government’s decision to allot an iron ore mine and will await a formal notification from the government to make the allotment decision official before commenting on the same.