Sesa Goa is moving towards resuming Iron ore mining in Karnataka. The company had stopped mining because of the ban imposed by the Supreme Court in the state two years ago (later lifted).
Sesa Goa has recently secured a working permit for one year from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for its mines in Chitradurga district.
However, the company is yet to get no-objection certificate from the forest department, Karnataka government, and final approval from the monitoring committee to resume operations.
The MoEF approval came on August 22, 2013, pending renewal of its lease for a period of 20 years. The company's mining lease had expired on October 20, 2012.
Since the company's mines are located on the hilltop in the Nirthadi Reserve Forest in the Holakere range of Chitradurga division, the forest department has claimed forest development tax (FDT), which runs into several crores of rupees, based on the invoice value for export for a period of three years between 2008 and 2011. Unless the company pays this amount, the department is unlikely to issue a no-objection certificate to the company.
After almost a two-year ban, Sesa Sterlite Iron ore mining operations in Karnataka have got a green signal from the Supreme Court with a limited capacity of 2.29 MnT. The company expects to start mining in the third quarter post attaining forest clearance and would operate under deemed extension till the mining lease gets renewed.
– Sourced
Leave a Reply