India's iron ore availability: a complex situation

IRON ORE AVAILABILITY IN INDIA Steel Secretary said in an interview to a Korean agency that one of the advantages of India's steel sector is abundant iron ore resources (www.biz.chosun.com- 31/07/2025), while NMDC in its annual report for the year 2024-25, warned that India could become a net importer of iron ore (The Hindu Business Line- 12/08/2025). The position is summarised below: 1. India has 24,058 million tonnes (MT) resources of hematite ore (of this, 4,560 MT are proved reserves, and 1,649 MT are probable reserves) and 11,228 MT resources of magnetite ore (reserves are 203 MT). 2. Currently only hematite reserves are used since majority of magnet reserves are in ecologically sensible areas; besides being of low Fe content. 3. Of the proved reserves of hematite ore, 23.4% is high grade (>65% Fe), 41.8% medium grade (Fe 62-65%), 24.7% low grade (<62% Fe) and rest unclassified. 4. Between FY19 and FY25, iron ore production increased from 206.5 MT to 289 MT at a CAGR of 5.7%, while crude steel production increased from 110.9 MT to 152 MT, at a CAGR of 5.5%. Production of high-grade ore is coming down (20% down in FY24) while that of low-grade ore is going up (up 21% in FY24) 5. During the above period, iron ore exports ranged from 16.2 MT to 57.7 MT (low grade ore of <58% Fe; higher grade ore has export tax of 35%), while imports ranged from 1.3 MT and 12.8 MT. In FY25 iron ore availability was 271 MT (289 MT production, 24 MT exports and 6 MT imports) and consumption is estimated at about 250 MT. 6. Indian iron ore is characterised by high gangue (Al2O3 + SiO2-5 to 6%) and high Al2O3/SiO2 ratio (>2). This increases slag volume and coke rate. 7. Present capacity of iron ore beneficiation is 143 MT and is expected to go up to 170 MT by 2030 (not much of alumina reduction). 8. Scrap usage in steelmaking is low (20.8% in FY25) as domestic generation is low (~27 MT in FY25) since India is a developing country. Many countries are restricting exports to conserve it for their own use for decarbonisation). 9. Iron ore requirement is estimated at 419 MT in FY31, 495 MT in FY36 (25% scrap usage) and 600 MT in 2047 (35% scrap usage- ~200 MT requirement). With this requirement, available proved reserves will last only a few years. 10. To ensure continuous availability at higher steel production levels, India has to: a) bring more mines into operation, b) convert remaining resources to reserves, c) undertake extensive exploration to locate more deposits, d) find ways of utilising magnetite and e) undertake extensive beneficiation to increase Fe content and reduce Al2O3 content. 11. Without above measures, India will become an importer of iron ore. May be imports will be from Australia and Simondou, a Rio Tinto project in Guinea.