Alarm bell for 26 mines
Bhubaneshwar: The whole Mining & Steel Industry of the country is eagerly waiting for the hon’ble Supreme Court’s order on illegal mining in Odisha, the largest Iron ore producer of the country. While, the mining ban on Goa & Karnataka had limited impact on the industry, experts believe an adverse SC ruling may have much larger impact on the steel industry.
The Supreme Court has already signaled that it will pass an interim order to stop illegal mining in Odisha with focus on the mines that are operating under deemed renewal, especially the mines that are running for more than 20 years under deemed renewal. The Court in context of Goa mining has said that deemed mining licenses can be valid for not more than 20 years.
RP Sao, lawyer representing big steel & mining companies like Tata, SAIL & Sarda Mines said in the court that they had applied for the renewal on time but state had not granted it on time.
In such a scenario, which are the mines that are on the red line? What will be the overall impact on the state’s mining industry if these mines are closed down? According to sources, there are 26 mines that are most likely to be asked to close down mining. The list also includes miners like Tata, OMC, SAIL, Rungta, KJS Ahluwalia, Mesco, RP Sao, KN Ram, Kaypee Enterprises, NKPK (Jharkhand), Core Minerals (Jharkhand) & Rameshwaram Jute Mills (Jharkhand).
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