Steel firms in Karnataka are
eagerly waiting for the auctions that start tomorrow. It is expected to bring
some relief to the steelmakers who have been facing a severe shortage of raw
material due to the six- week-old ban on mining in Karnataka.
On average 1.5 million tonnes of
iron ore will be sold each month through electronic auctions, with the
government keeping 10 per cent of the proceeds in royalties.
The Supreme Court imposed a total
ban on mining in Bellary, a mineral-rich district of Karnataka, on July 29, two
days after the state's chief minister had been accused of accepting bribes from
companies accused of mining illegally in the region.
Mining in two other areas of the
state was banned a few weeks later, when other arrests were made.
The sudden halt to mining
operations in the south of the country is now affecting the wider economy. Figures
from the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries showed overall exports of iron
ore from India fell 23 per cent in July to 3.62 million tonnes, from 4.68
million tonnes last year.
Leave a Reply