Indian miner NMDC Limited has resumed supplies of iron ore from its Bailadila mines in the central state of Chhattisgarh to state-run Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited’s (RINL) 7.3 million mt capacity steel mill at Vishakhapatnam in the southof India, a statement from RINL said on Wednesday, October 11.
“With the continuous and relentless efforts by Indian Railways, its KK line operations were restored on October 10, 2023, and supply of iron ore and railway rake movement to RINL from NMDC mines have resumed,” the statement said.
RINL said that there was a major landslide along Indian Railways’ KK line in the early hours of September 24 this year and supplies from NMDC’s Bailadila sector, which is the main source of iron ore supplies for the company, had to be stopped.
This created a massive challenge for sustaining the plant operations as the inflow of iron ore was already constrained and the stocks of iron ore had reached a critical level because of heavy monsoon rains in the area of the mines, it added.
Meanwhile, RINL had made alternate arrangements from other sources like NMDC mines in Karnataka, Steel Authority of India Limited’s Bolani/Barsua iron ore mines, Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC) and Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) to ensure smooth and uninterrupted operations of its two blast furnaces.