Steel minister bats for PSU mine leases

摘要

If the draft mining Bill sought to level the playing field for private and public sector steel-makers by mandating competitive bidding for mining lease, the steel ministry has something directly opposite in its mind: Preferential treatment for state owned steel-makers like SAIL and RINL. In an interview with FE, steel minister Virbhadra Singh demanded that longterm iron ore mining leases be allotted to public sector steel-makers on a preferential basis. According to Singh, the government should allocate leases to private steel-makers only after, the PSUs' requirements are taken care of. Among PSU steel-makers, SAIL has captive mines but needs more ore since it is expanding operations while RINL does not have any captive mines as on date.