Wednesday, July 06,
The Supreme Court ordered Karnataka to lift a ban on iron ore shipments, in place since July 2010 as part of a crackdown on illegal mining, from April 20. But Karnataka is yet to allow any export, raising concern among miners there.
The State government officials have said they are unlikely to allow exports of iron ore unless the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) completes its survey on illegal mining activities. There is no timetable given on when the survey will be finished.
State officials have previously given several deadlines for issuing of the permits but they have all passed without any exports happening.
Miners have largely blamed the delay to a political battle between the federal government and India’s main opposition party, which rules Karnataka.
Mineral Enterprises Ltd, one of two miners who contested the ban in the Supreme Court, said it will file a “writ of mandamus and contempt” with the court this week, hoping to force the Karnataka state to allow exports to resume immediately.
The miner estimates that there are around 25 million tonnes of iron ore lying in stockyards and mines of exporters and faced the risk of getting eroded due to the monsoon rains. The volume roughly amounts to a year of iron ore exports from Karnataka.
Source: Reuters
Leave a Reply