Vedanta's Sesa Goa opens its second mining lease at Bicholim

PANAJI: Sesa Iron Ore, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Inc, opened its second mining lease in the state today to utilise its full annual production allowance of 5.5 million tonne, as approved by Goa government.

While Sesa had resumed work at its Codli mining site earlier, today it opened its Bicholim mining lease, both of which are the largest mining leases in the state.

"Sesa Goa has made significant positive contributions to Goa and the community for more than 50 years and will continue to do so. Our long-term vision is to create a sustainable iron ore mining industry in India which contributes to economic growth of the state and the country," Sesa Iron Ore CEO Kishore Kumar said.

"More than 85 per cent of Goa's ore have iron ranging from 48 per cent to 58 per cent. This ore is not used by the domestic steel industry as evidenced by electronic auctions conducted by the monitoring committee of the Supreme Court. So exports are the only option for marketing of this ore," he said.

He urged the Goa government to note the current market scenario, where prices have fallen as compared to April last year.

"Also, the domestic iron ore industry is taxed at 40 per cent above the line as against the 0.7 per cent to 7 per cent taxation in other competing iron ore exporting countries like Brazil, South Africa and Australia," he said.

Goa Deputy Speaker Anant Shet said that, "I congratulate Vedanta for positively responding to the call given by the Goa Chief Minister to restart mines and taking the risk to commence their business operations despite poor market conditions. I am happy that Vedanta is the first company in Goa to restart its operations in the state," Shet said.