Govt plans royalty relief for SAIL, RINL on low-grade ore

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) are headed for a double bonanza as the government plans to slash royalty on beneficiated low-grade iron ore to 5 per cent and exempt them from additional payments under the Sixth Schedule, if they pay royalty under the Fifth Schedule.

- AMITAV RANJAN

“When low grade hematite ore with less than 58 per cent iron content is beneficiated to 62 per cent iron content or above, the royalty would be levied at 5 per cent of the average selling price,’ said an official. Currently, there is one royalty rate of 15 per cent on all grades of iron ore across the sector.

He said the royalty cut for all steel manufacturers follows Standing Committee on Coal & Steel’s observation that beneficiation, followed by agglomeration, would not only conserve the limited high-grade ore but also make it possible for optimum utilisation of the available rejects thereby reducing the burden of stacking tailings and rejects kept for disposal.