Sesa Goa Q4 net down 74% due to mining ban

Moneycontrol Bureau

Iron ore Miner Sesa Goa posted a 74 percent year-on-year decline in March quarter to Rs 298 crore due to the ongoing mining ban in Karnataka and Goa. If not for contribution of Rs 513 crore from Cairn India in which it holds 20 percent stake, the firm would have posted losses.

Income from operations declined almost two fold to Rs 291 crore as there was no production and sale of iron ore during the quarter.

''Iron ore operations were affected by the suspension of mining in Goa and Karnataka. On April 18, 2013, the Supreme Court gave clearance for resumption of mining operations for A and B category mines in Karnataka subject to statutory clearances. Sesa Goa's Karnataka mine falls under B category, and is awaiting statutory clearances, including forest clearance which expired in October 2012, to resume mining. We expect to commence mining shortly, subject to the grant of statutory clearances,'' the company said.

Meanwhile, in Q4, production of pig iron and metallurgical coke grew 75 percent to 1,04,000 tonne and 48 percent to 94,000 tonne as the firm commissioned new capacities in the September quarter.

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