Govt keen to revive iron ore mining: FM

Three iron ore producing states in country - Karnataka, Goa and Odisha facing brunt

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said the government was keen to get the iron ore mining sector up and running. “We have to find a way to export iron ore. We need to restart iron ore mining,” he said, adding production of steel was vital for any manufacturing country.

Chidambaram said the Ministry of Mines had moved, or would move, the Supreme Court, seeking relaxation in some of its orders on iron ore. “I think the orders are already being relaxed in the case of Karnataka mines. I think some orders are expected in the case of the Goa mines, too. The idea is to get iron ore mining back on its feet,” he said.

In July 2011, the Supreme Court had banned mining in Karnataka. In September 2012, it had banned mining in Goa, following a petition filed by Prashant Bhushan. The petition came in the wake of the

M B Shah-headed judicial commission exposing a Rs 35,000-crore scam involving top mining companies, politicians and bureaucrats. The state, which accounted for more than half the country’s iron ore exports, is awaiting a verdict from the apex court.

In October 2012, the Odisha government had clamped on illegal mining and banned exports of iron ore. It had limited iron ore mining to captive use alone.

However, the Supreme Court has allowed partial resumption of mining operations in Karnataka.

India, earlier the third-largest iron ore exporter in the world, is set to become a net importer of the commodity this financial year.

Total iron ore exports fell 68.27 per cent to 16.35 million tonnes (mt) during April 2012-January 2013, against 51.52 mt in the year-ago period. It is estimated the country lost about $10 billion (Rs 54,810 crore) worth of iron ore exports last financial year. Since 2009-10, iron ore exports have fallen consistently. In 2009-10, exports stood at 117.72 mt, falling to 97.6 mt in 2010-11 and 61.7 mt in 2011-12.

The ban on iron ore mining has had repercussions on the steel industry as well, as iron ore is the primary ingredient that sector. In 2012-13, steel imports jumped 14.6 per cent, against a rise of one per cent in 2011-12. Growth in exports of finished steel slowed to 14.3 per cent in 2012-13 from 32.56 per cent a year earlier. Last financial year, domestic steel production grew just 2.5 per cent.

When asked whether the government was considering cutting the duty on iron ore exports, Chidambaram said though issue was being examined, no final decision had been taken so far.