Karnataka is waiting for the Supreme Court approval to auction 15 more iron ore mines, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said yesterday.
“We have submitted an action plan to the Supreme Court for its approval to auction 15 mines that were classified by its appointed panel under C category,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said at an ASSOCHAM conference on enhancing mineral production..
The auctions will boost the State’s iron ore production from about 22 MnT to the targeted 26 to 27 MnT during the current fiscal, he said. The Supreme Court has fixed the State’s iron ore mining limit at 30 MnT a year.
“The State has taken steps to re-allocate the cancelled ‘C’ category mines through auction and is prepared to auction 15 mines in the first phase and has submitted the draft scheme to the Supreme Court. The State has received exploration reports of 11 mines from the MECL [which has estimated their iron ore resources at] 176.641 MnT” he added.
The state government has also submitted an INR 20 billion action plan to the Apex Court for environment restoration work in the three heavily mined districts environmentally and socio-economically of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkuru.
-Sourced
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