With misclassification of different grades of minerals by mining leaseholders found to be at the root of illegal mining, the Union mines ministry has tightened the procedure to be followed by states for
A petition was filed on Wednesday in the Supreme Court to restrain the resumption of iron and manganese ore mining in Goa amid a judicial commission estimating a loss of Rs 35,000 crore to the exchequer
Mideast Integrated Steel Ltd (MISL), a Mesco group company having an one million tonne pig iron plant at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district of Odisha, plans to upgrade the unit to a 1.2 million tonne finished steel product facility by the end of December 2014. “The company has begun upgrading its Kalinganagar plant into a fully integrated steel plant of 1.2 million tonne per annum (MTPA) capacity. With an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, a steel melting shop with rolling mill for rebar and wire rod is being set up,” said J K Singh, president of Mesco Group.
The Odisha government has decided to impose levy of Rs 1 per tonne on mineral transported through the electronic route. The state cabinet on Tuesday okayed an amendment to the Odisha Minerals (Prevention of Theft, Smuggling and Illegal Mining and Regulation of Possession, Storage and Transport) Rules-2007 to enable the imposition of this user fee. “The proceeds of the levy on minerals transported through the e-route will be used for maintaining IT infrastructure. The user fee will be currently applicable to iron ore and later extended to coal which is also going to be brought under e-permit,” said state chief secretary B K Patnaik after the cabinet meeting.
Posco India may have to abandon its proposal for swapping of high alumina content iron ore found in the state with high grade ore from outside to meet the quality parameters of its proposed 12 million tonne greenfield steel project in Odisha. Even the steel behemoth’s plan to swap iron ore within the country, a modified condition understood to be incorporated in the revised pact by the Odisha government may not hold ground if the latest order of the Union mines ministry is implemented.
Iron ore miners are contesting the levy of a forest development tax by the forest department in Karnataka, but the levy has been incredibly beneficial for the exchequer’s coffers. Selling Karnataka’s forest produce like grass, amla, bark, lac, honey, silk cocoons and bamboo to industries attracts a 12 per cent forest development tax or FDT. Forest officials also levy the tax on the mining of iron ore from reserve forest areas, which happens in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts of Karnataka.
The central government has banned states from allowing sale or export of iron ore by companies granted mining leases for own steel production. “The entire ore produced in the mining operation (of captive
NMDC has also decided to rope in an international consultant for devising a proper and professional pricing policy in place of the pricing formula currently followed Public sector mining company NMDC Ltd will take a call on iron ore pricing for the December quarter at its board meeting on October 1, amid concerns that prices are already high compared to international benchmarks. “There are pricing pressures internationally and India cannot be insulated from the effects of those pressures though the domestic demand is good,” said SAIL Chairman and Managing Director C S Verma, who also holds the additional charge as chairman-cum-managing director of NMDC.
PANJIM: Two days ago, the Manohar Parrikar government went for Rs 200 crore market borrowing, which it says would be utilized for infrastructure development and social sector schemes. The borrowing
However, the move did not have any impact on the JSW stock Amid the alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks taking their toll, on Monday, JSW Steel joined the list of companies whose coal blocks had been deallocated. The block, Gourangdih ABC in West Bengal, had been jointly allocated to JSW Steel and Himachal Emta Power. However, the move did not have any impact on the JSW stock. On the contrary, JSW shares closed at Rs 727.10 on the BSE on Tuesday, gaining two per cent over the previous close.
Goa government has finally resolved to shut down the mines pouring manganese and iron ore in the Selaulim reservoir, the source of potable water for 55 per cent of the state population. The state will have to shut down the mines operating within the river zone of Selaulim dam, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters yesterday. "We have to stop all mines pouring in material (iron ore and manganese) in Selaulim reservoir," Parrikar said.
