Yeddyurappa asks PM for total ban on iron ore export

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa today sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a ban on export of iron ore from the country.

"India is the only country where illegal mining is being carried out in almost all the states. There is an urgent need for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene on this issue of imposing a total ban on export of iron ore," he said.

Natural resources including mineral wealth must be preserved and used internally for value addition, he told reporters on the sidelines of a religious function at Kuthyaru, near here.

"I have been stressing on this (ban on iron ore export) since a long time including at the NDC (National Development Council) meeting of Chief Ministers held at New Delhi", Yeddyurappa said.

Criticising opposition JDS and Congress for making allegations against his government, he asserted it was under their rule that all licences for mining were given.