A committee set up by the Supreme Court tasked
with investigating illegal mining in Karnataka has submitted its
final report containing recommendations that could radically change how mining
is done in the country.
The Central Empowered Committee, in its report submitted on Saturday, has
recommended the cancellation of leases of 49 mines that have violated the terms
of their licence. It is also believed to have recommended the auction of
these leases, according to people familiar with its contents. These mines
produce up to 10 million tonnes of iron ore per year.
The people familiar with the report say 45 mines cleared of any wrong doing
will be allowed to mine as soon as the ban is lifted while 72 other mines will
resume only after they have paid penalties.
The CEC is also believed to have agreed with a report by the Council for Forest
Research and Education that had recommended capping iron ore production in
Karnataka's at 30 million tonnes.
However accepting this figure, which meets current
requirements, would cause leave little room to accommodate planned investments
of players such as ArcelorMittal and Posco. Two years ago Karnataka signed a
long list of MoU's with NMDC, Bhushan, Tata Metaliks, Adhunik and Kirloskar for
setting up steel plants. These MoUs largely committed the state to providing
captive iron ore mines to meet a part of the requirement of these proposed
plants.
Source: The Economic Times
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