Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy has struck a dissenting note against the decision taken by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to ban export of iron ore and described it as a “hasty decision”.
Expressing his disappointment, he said that the Chief Minister might have taken the decision owing to pressure from the Opposition parties, and said Mr. Yeddyurappa should have examined the pros and cons of it.
Addressing presspersons at Harapanahalli on Friday, Mr. Reddy said that many individuals and firms had invested thousands of crores in mining and had entered into agreements with foreign companies to supply iron ore. He said that the Government should have set a deadline of six months or a year to stop mining activities and stop export of iron ore. The decision had forced those in mining business to dishonour their agreements. Several people who directly or indirectly are dependent in mining would be virtually on the streets, he said.
To a question whether the Reddy brothers, who were in the mining business for many years, and also members of the state Cabinet were not taken into confidence by the Chief Minister before taking the decision, Mr. Reddy said that they were not consulted.
There were no huge profits in mining as was being projected, Mr. Reddy said. He said that 35 per cent of the money would be paid as tax to the State Government and 15 per cent as cess to the Central Government and major chunk of money would be spent on salaries and transportation of iron ore.
He said that it was ideal to allow mining in the State at least in the best interest of lakhs of people who were directly or indirectly involved and suggested that the Government take steps to prevent illegal mining.
Mr. Reddy said that Siddaramaiah had been making a hue and cry about mining and had undertaken padayatra to retain his position as Leader of the Opposition. He denied that his brother, G. Janardhan Reddy, had threatened Mr. Siddaramaiah and asked him to come to Bellary “if he had guts”. Mr. Janardhan Reddy asked him to come to Bellary to see for himself how much development had been taken place in Bellary since few years now, he claimed.
