After central government imposed the 20% provisional safeguard duty w.e.f. 15 Sept’15, to protect domestic steel industry, Karnataka government is now all set to expedite the re-opening of the banned mines to edge out domestic iron ore.
The central government strongly recommended Karnataka’s chief minister Siddaramaiah to expedite the mining permits of all the banned mines.
Two and a half years back, the govt banned 168 mines due to some environmental damage and violation of environmental laws. Later, SC granted permission to 117 iron ore mines involved in minor-violations to re-start operations. The govt canceled the leases of remaining 51 mines, requiring their permits to be auctioned.
However, only 24 mines have been operational yet, and the rest are under process of lease renewals. Now, the govt is focusing on rest of the 93 mines to re-start their operation soon.
“Though the SC allowed re-opening of 117 mines in early 2013, only 24 are operational as the state government hasn’t been pro-active in getting leases executed, thanks to a bureaucratic paralysis and the lack of political will,” said Basant Poddar, vice-president at Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI).
During a recent visit of a senior mines minister to Karnataka, Narendra singh Tomar recommeded Karnataka’s chief minister “to fast-track the renewal of leases for the remaining 93 mines.”
At present, out of 93 mines, around 35-40 iron ore mines are eligible to restart operations, but the strict rules and regulations imposed by the government have hindered the operations of these mines.
Lack of sufficient availability of iron ore domestically forced steelmakers to import 15.1 MnT iron ore in FY15. Out of total 15.1 MnT, JSW Steel imported the majority of iron ore i.e. 10 MnT.
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