The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) has opposed the State government's guidelines restricting the free movement of iron ore from Ballari, Chitradurga, and Tumakuru districts in the wake of a Supreme Court order last month which relaxed curbs on transportation and sale of iron ore from the state, like in other States.
The guidelines have considered only the stocks up to March 31, 2022, for issuance of permits. In such a scenario, the licence holders are in a dilemma on how to sell iron ore from the fresh production as the Directorate of Mines and Geology has refused to issue permits on fresh stocks, said an official note from FIMI.
FIMI, in its letter to the government, said guidelines “are completely unwarranted, contrary to the court order and perverse.” It urged the government to take steps to withdraw the restriction imposed in the free flow of movement of iron ore produced in the State at the earliest by “abiding by the Supreme Court’s order”.
The Supreme Court order issued on May 20, 2022, FIMI said, “does not make any mention to the closing balance of iron ore stocks furnished by the monitoring committee as on March 31, 2022, let alone contain any directions restricting the liberty granted to sell ore without e-auction, by interstate sale, and exports.”
“By restricting the free movement of ore, the government's guidelines would create further market imperfections, which are directly contrary to the observations of the Supreme Court," the federation argued.
