January 27, 2012: Vedanta group firm Sesa Goa aims to produce about 20 million tonnes of iron ore next financial year as the firm is hopeful of the mining ban in Karnataka being lifted soon, a senior company official has said.

"I am an optimist... I can not imagine in my wildest dreams that Karnataka will not come in the next financial year. The production from the state will not be less than 6 MTPA. In Goa, it will be almost at the same levels (as of this fiscal)," managing director P.K. Mukherjee said in an earnings call.

The company expects to produce about 14 million tons from Goa in the current fiscal, he said.

Talking about Karnataka, Mukherjee said Sesa Goa is ready to restart its operations in the state as and when the ban on mining imposed by the Supreme Court gets lifted.

Before the mining ban, Karnataka used to produce about 40 mtpa of iron ore, amounting to about one-fifth of India's total production.

Acknowledging that the October-December quarter did not yield good results for the company, Mukherjee said Sesa Goa's profits are under tremendous pressure as the demand scenario is not encouraging, while the ban on mining in Karnataka continues.

The Goa-based company's consolidated net profit fell by over 35% to Rs 691.52 crore in Q3.

Source: The Economic Times