Govt raises export duty on iron ore fines, lumps by 5%

The government has imposed an additional 5 per cent export duty on iron ore fines and lumps, a move aimed at curbing iron ore exports. The industry, however, said this would hit the mining sector.

The government has raised export duty on iron ore lumps to 10 per cent from 5 per cent and on iron ore fines to 5 per cent from nil, said a finance ministry notification.

“This decision has come at a time when the exports are picking up and showing signs of recovery,” Federation of Indian Minerals Industries (Fimi) Secretary General R K Sharma said.

“This will have a cascading effect on the steel industry. The finance ministry should have waited for some time before increasing the export duty and should have allowed the steel industry to recover from the global economic meltdown,” he said.

Iron ore fines were not consumed by the domestic industry, he added. India is the third-largest exporter of iron ore in the world after Australia and Brazil.

Steel minister Virbhadra Singh had earlier, in a letter to Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, demanded 10 per cent export duty on all grades of iron ore, to ensure the availability of raw material for the domestic steel makers.