IMG to review Essar's iron ore slurry pipeline in Vizag

An Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) will review the security of Ruias-promoted Essar Steel's iron ore slurry pipeline, which supplies treated ore from its plant in Bailadila to pellet plant in Visakhapatnam, in May.

The IMG, which is scheduled to meet May-end, among other matters will take up the issue of security of Essar's slurry pipeline, a senior government official said.

Although in last six months, disruptions in the pipeline have come down, but the ministerial group wants to take up the case with Andhra Pardesh and Chhattisgarh to find a long-term security solution to this, he added.

Essar Steel has built an 8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) iron ore pellet plant in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) to cater to pellet requirement of its steel plant in Hazira, Gujarat.

The plant gets an assured supply of iron ore from the beneficiation plant at Bailadilla in Chhattisgarh. The plant operates an 8 MTPA beneficiation plant. The treated ore is then transported through a 267-km double-pipeline from Bailadila to Visakhapatnam.

Slurry pipeline is considered a cost effective and fast mode of transportation, which eases significant pressure on rail and road network, and cuts carbon foot print as well as has minimal environmental impact.

However, the pipeline in the last few years has been attacked by maoists and other extremist elements in the border areas of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh leading to disruption in supply of iron ore.