PTI reported that Vedanta group firm Sesa Goa may have to resort to imports of iron ore for feeding its 625,000 tonnes pig iron plant in Goa, expanded from 250,000 tonnes in August 2012, due to a mining ban in the state.

Mr PK Mukherjee MD of Sesa Goa said that as such, the company does not have adequate iron ore to run its own pig iron plant which may force Sesa Goa to either shut down blast furnaces or go for imports to feed the plant.

Mr Mukherjee said that "With no mining in Goa, we will have to resort to imports to keep our pig iron plant running and the days are not to far."

Mr Mukherjee said that Sesa Goa, which sold 16 million tonnes of iron ore in last fiscal from its mines in Karnataka and Goa, has not produced even a single tonne after the temporary ban was imposed on iron ore mining in Goa.

The Goa Government had ordered a temporary suspension on extraction of ore across the state on September 11th, pending verification of various approval documents in view of the findings of Justice Mr MB Shah Commission on illegal mining. On October 5th 2012, the Supreme Court ordered a suspension on mining activities in Goa, including transportation of mined ore from mines or stockyards and asked the Central Empowered Committee to file a preliminary report in 4 weeks.