Karnataka awaits the Supreme Court’s decision to auction 15 of its ‘C’ category mines for exploration of iron ore, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday.
The auctions will boost the State’s iron ore production from about 22 million tonnes to the targeted 26 to 27 million tonnes during the current fiscal, he said at an ASSOCHAM conference on enhancing mineral production, here. The Supreme Court has fixed the State’s iron ore mining limit at 30 million tonnes a year.
So far, Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd. has prepared reports for 11 of the 15 mines planned for auction in the first phase and the State has submitted them to the apex court for approval.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said efforts were being made to reduce the steel industry’s acute shortage of its raw material, iron ore. “The State has taken steps to re-allocate the cancelled ‘C’ category mines through auction and is prepared to auction 15 mines in the first phase and has submitted the draft scheme to the Supreme Court. The State has received exploration reports of 11 mines from the MECL [which has estimated their iron ore resources at] 176.641 million tonnes,” he said.
Restoration plan
The State was also ready with its Rs. 2,000-crore draft plan to restore the three heavily mined districts environmentally and socio-economically. The mitigation plan would be implemented in Ballari, Chitradurga and Tumakuru through Karnataka Mining Environment Restoration Corporation in tandem with the nationally mandated local district mineral foundations.
“The State has submitted a draft action plan for Rs. 2,000 crore to the Supreme Court and is awaiting its approval,” the Chief Minister said.
Union Mines Secretary Anup K. Pujari was present. JSW Steel’s Joint MD M.V.S. Seshagiri Rao said the steel industry needed 35 million tonnes of ore and called for removing the court-imposed production limit of 30 million tonnes.
