Mines ministry awaits steel ministry's response on scrapping export duty on iron ore

The proposal would pave way for export of surplus high-grade iron ore (with over 58% iron content) in Odisha and Jharkhand

Mines ministry is awaiting steel ministry’s response on a proposal to remove 30 per cent export duty on high-grade iron ore, mines minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

The proposal would pave way for export of surplus high-grade iron ore (with over 58 per cent iron content) in Odisha and Jharkhand.

The two states had approached the mines ministry for the removal to garner revenue by exporting excess iron ore.

According to Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, 168 million tonnes of high-grade iron ore lie idle in the country.

However, some steel companies are of the view that iron ore is a natural resource and should not be exported.

The major advantage the Indian steel sector has is of domestic iron ore, so it should be conserved for the industry here, they say. To develop infrastructure, more steel is required and, hence, more iron ore, Seshagiri Rao M V S, group chief financial officer and joint managing director of JSW Steel, had said.

Meanwhile, mines ministry on Thursday launched a web portal for star rating of major mineral mines in the country.

The main objective of this is to bring all mines to a minimum standard of star rating in the shortest possible time to adopt sustainable practices.

The star rating will be based on aspects including scientific and systematic mining to ease environmental impact, addressing social impact of resettlement and rehabilitation, and adoption of international standards for mining operations and reporting.