BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has issued a demand notice of Rs 1,902.72 crore on Tata Steel Limited for alleged shortfall in dispatch of minerals from the company’s Sukinda chromite block.
The demand includes the sale value of shortfall quantity and appropriation of performance security. The block located in Jajpur district is one of the largest chromite mines in the country.
Sources said the office of the deputy director of mines, Jajpur, issued the demand notice on Thursday in connection with revised assessment of shortfall in dispatch of minerals from the company’s Sukinda mines for the fourth year in terms of Mine Development and Production Agreement (MDPA) covering the period from July 23, 2023 to July 22, 2024 in alleged violation of Rule 12A of the Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydrocarbon Energy Minerals) Concession Rules, 2016.
The deputy director has stated that steps would be initiated to appropriate the steel manufacturer’s performance security to recover the alleged dues. The demand raised is based on the recalculated average sale prices of minerals, as notified by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM).
Tata Steel in its regulatory filing on Friday has admitted to have received the demand of Rs 1902,72,53,760 from the DD of mines, Jajpur. The company, however, refuted the claims and informed the BSE India that it will challenge the demand notice legally.
The steel major clarified that the calculation could be based on the state’s revised price methodology rather than any actual discrepancy in dispatch volumes.
“The management believes that the state’s demands lack justification and substantive basis. Accordingly, the company will pursue suitable legal remedies before the appropriate judicial or quasi-judicial forum(s),” it stated.