August 19,
The recent ban on Iron ore exports and suspension of trade permits by the Karnataka government is likely to leave a loss of Rs 2,000-crore in the revenues of Indian Railways this year.
The movement of rakes carrying Iron ore from the state’s mines in Bellary-Hospet, Sandur, Chitradurga and Tumkur has come to a complete standstill.
Officials in the South Western Railway (SWR) zone, headquartered in Hubli, told “On an average, the railways carry 20 rakes of Iron ore every day from Karnataka miners, netting revenue of Rs 10 crore. However, with the ban coming into effect, the movement of rakes dipped to as low as 3 rakes in the first week of August.”
During the April-June period, the railways carried 7.28 MT of Iron ore for export, a decline of 3.21 MT over the targeted 10.49 MT for the period.
Traffic in Iron ore for export on the railways’ network has fallen by 17% this year as compared to the 8.74 MT of the commodity transported during April-June 2009.
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