The Supreme Court on Monday refused to allow the Centre’s plea to raise annual Iron ore productions in Karnataka to 50 MnT to meet the Steel industry’s demand.

A three-judge Green bench, presided over by Justice A K Patnaik, said, the Steel Ministry could file a review petition against an order fixing the cap at 30 MnT.

The Steel Ministry in December filed an interlocutory application contending that the limit fixed earlier by the apex court was “quite insufficient” to meet the annual requirement of the industry, dependent on Iron ore from Karnataka.

 “India, the fourth largest producer of Steel in the world, is likely to become the second largest globally, but the industry has suffered on account of regional shortage of Iron ore, particularly in Karnataka,” Steel Ministry said.

The ministry pointed out that 32 Sponge iron plants stopped operation while the production of Finished Steel saw a meager 2.5% growth in 2012-13. Consumption had, however, grown by 3.25%. It also claimed that capacity utilization of the Indian Steel industry had touched an all-time low.

The Karnataka Government had sought permission from the court to raise the annual Iron ore production to 40 MnT.

–  Sourced