The Supreme Court today reserves interim order on illegal Odisha’s Iron ore mining case against a PIL filed by NGO named Common Cause in the representation of Mr. Prashant Bhushan.
The hearing will decide the fate of several mines operating under deemed licenses. Such a situation may occur if the apex court sticks to its own recent ruling on mining in Goa holding that deemed mining licenses can be valid for not more than 20 years.
Notably, 37 of 53 mines currently operating in the state, are running under deemed extension, according to the documents submitted by the state government before the SC-appointed the Central Empowered Committee (CEC).
Mining experts fear, since the lease expiry of good number of mines operating the state has crossed 20 years, the SC may ask the Odisha Government to issue notices to stop operations of mine owners whose operations fall under such category.
Experts also believe that few big miners and steel companies located in the state are planning to file a petition against any kind of ban or capping on Iron ore mining the state.
Odisha is the largest Iron ore producing state in the country which contributes over 45% of total India’s production. It may also be noted, Odisha is also the largest producer of merchant Iron ore. Quite a lot of Sponge iron and steel industries are dependent on Odisha for supply of their raw material.
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