The Supreme Court today refused to review its September 13, 2010, ruling which had ruled that states cannot frame policies to allot mining leases outside the scheme laid down in the MMDR act and the mineral
New Delhi: Says state didn’t comply with SC order on grant of iron ore Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL) has asked the Supreme Court to initiate contempt proceedings against the Orissa government for failing to comply with the apex court’s order that asked it to recommend BPSL’s case for grant of iron ore reserves to the Central government. The compamy needed the iron ore reserves for the company’s 2.8- million-tonne integrated steel plant at Lapanga.
Iron ore supply likely to be disrupted further in Karnataka if panel finds fault with these miners Supply of iron ore to steel mills in and around Karnataka might be disrupted further if the central empowered committee (CEC), appointed by the Supreme Court to probe alleged irregularities of nine mining companies, including Sesa Goa Ltd, finds fault with the firms. The forest bench of the apex court, hearing a fresh interlocutory application (IA) filed by the petitioner in illegal mining, Samaj Parivartan Samudaya (SPS), a Dharwad, Karnataka-based non-government organisation, directed CEC on February 1 to initiate the probe and submit a report to it.
NEW DELHI: Coal India Ltd (CIL) has gone out of its way to sign fuel supply pacts with 11 companies, including alleged Coalgate beneficiaries, even before these firms reached the qualifying milestones such as acquiring land, the state-run monopoly's internal anti-corruption watchdog has said. In a report to the coal ministry, a copy of which is available with TOI, CIL's CVO (chief vigilance officer) Manoj Kumar said supply pacts for 5,935 mw — or one-and-a-half times of the national capital's daily requirement — have either been inked or cleared for signing in spite of "deficiencies in documents".A fuel supply agreement (FSA) holds the key to disbursal of institutional funding for power projects.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to look into the alleged illegalities committed by some mines including Sesa Goa and Mysore Minerals in Karnataka. It also asked the CEC to assess the quantum of loss caused to the exchequer on account of illegal mining by lease holders in categories A, B, and C. A three-judge green bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam asked the Supreme Court-appointed panel to study and file a report on the allegations made by Samaj Parivartan Samudaya, an NGO, which had sought a probe by the CBI or the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged illegalities committed by some mines under A, B, and C categories in Karnataka.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to look into an NGO’s plea seeking CBI probe against former Karnataka Minister D K Shivakumar, his brother D K Suresh and nine other mining companies in connection with illegal iron ore mining. A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Aftab Alam told the CEC to submit a report after examining the application filed by Dharwad based-NGO Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS).
Odisha-based Geomin Minerals, which has been locked in a legal battle with Korean giant Posco for an iron ore prospecting licence in the Kandadhar mines in Sundergarh district, on Wednesday opposed a Supreme Court move to ask the Centre to make an assessment of all potential contenders for the licence. The company had first challenged the Odisha government’s recommendation to allot the prospecting mining licence to Posco in the High Court, which cancelled the mine and asked the state to conduct the exercise afresh. Both Geomin and Posco then moved the HC against the decision.
PANJIM: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has discharged all show cause notices issued to 43 mining firms, over excess iron ore production (beyond the environment clearance limit), claiming that the Board is not in a position to verify the data and pointing out that the Supreme Court is currently seized of the matter. Goa Foundation, which had submitted the data, has already withdrawn from the matter as the Apex Court is seized of it based on its PIL. The Board said “as there is no conclusive evidence before them” regarding the mining units having exceeded permissible limits in extraction of mineral ore, which can only be conclusively verified by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) that is the relevant authority to verify it, it was disposing off the matter.
The State government, which has strongly favoured establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for rejuvenating areas devastated by illegal mining, has found that mining lessees have made windfall profits with little investment and with negligible concern for sustainability. The government is in favour of retaining a higher portion of the revenue earned by the lessees so that it could finance infrastructure and environment projects in districts of Bellary, Chitradruga and Tumkur. In its interlocutory application before the Supreme Court this month, Karnataka has presented how mining lease holders have made supernormal profits without investing much funds. The next hearing of the case is scheduled on January 8.
The order is significant against backdrop of an MoU signed by state government and M&Min respect of commissioning of Rs 700 crore project at Nashik The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a company Zenith Metaplast Pvt Ltd praying for allotment of a three acre plot in Nashik to itself and cancellation of adjacent plots alloted to Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and an industrialist. The court observed that the Maharashtra government and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) had acted in the interests of the state while allotting the adjacent plots admeasuring 17 acres and six acres to Mahindra & Mahindra and Nashik-based industrialist Abhay Kulkarni respectively.
The Orissa High Court has stopped operations by those mines that are operating on deemed renewal. The court has directed not to operate mines on deemed renewal without its permission. A division Bench comprising chief justice V Gopal Gowda and justice BN Mohapatra, while admitting a PIL, has directed not to operate mines on deemed renewal without its permission till the disposal of the case.
