Cuttack, Sept. 26: The legal battle for redistribution of Tata Steel’s chromite mines at Sukinda valley took a decisive turn today with Orissa High Court dismissing petitions seeking direction to the state government to give hearing to other ferro alloys producers before granting third renewal to the Tatas.

Sukinda possesses one of the largest chromite reserves in the state with Odisha holding 98 per cent of India’s chromite reserves, used for making ferro alloys and ferro chrome — raw material for stainless steel.

The chromite mines of Tata Steel at Sukinda are spread over 406 hectares.

Tata Steel had applied for third renewal to the state government. But over a dozen ferro alloys producers, including Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys (IMFA), Jindal Stainless Limited and Facor Alloys, filed separate petitions for redistribution of some part of Tata Steel’s Sukinda chromite mine to other ferro alloys producers.

The petitions contended that Tata Steel did not need all the 406 hectares allocated to it in the previous mining lease. Therefore, some part of the mine should be re-allocated among other ferro alloys producers as their raw material requirements had increased in the past two decades.

However, in a common judgment today, the two-judge bench of Justice Indrajit Mohanty and Justice B.N. Mohapatra ruled that the petitions “merit no consideration and ought to be dismissed and all interim orders vacated”.

On June 10, the high court issued interim order restraining the state government from taking any decision related to grant or renewal of the mining lease in respect of Sukinda chromite mines in Jajpur district.

The court, in its order, further said: “We direct accordingly that the state government is free to proceed with considering Tata’s application for third renewal strictly in accordance with the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act and the Mineral Concession Rules.”

The court expected the government to complete the exercise by November 16.

A similar legal battle for the chromite reserves at Sukinda had taken place in the 1990s. In 1993, the Supreme Court adopted the Sharma Committee report and redistributed part of the then 1,261 hectares held by the Tatas among the IMFA and three other ferro alloys producers.

Consequently, lease holding of the Tatas decreased to 406 hectares. Tata Steel had applied for third renewal after its second lease of the Sukinda mines lapsed in January 2013. The steel-maker got a temporary work permit from the environment ministry first for three months and then for a year that expired in May.

According to the Supreme Court directives, the mine cannot operate unless the state government renews the lease.