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Subsidised by mining

  • 30/12/2005

Over the past few years, Indian plants pay Rs 40 per tonne of limestone as royalty to state governments. According to information provided to the Green Rating Project, on an average, industry spent Rs 74 per tonne of limestone used for all mining and related activities (including royalties, dead rent, operating expenses and reclamation). This is a small amount compared to expenditure on raw materials like coal, pet coke, slag and gypsum. For instance, Jamul Cement Works (JCW) spends Rs 1,472 for every tonne of gypsum it purchases, Rs 407 per tonne of slag and Rs 1,735 per tonne of coal. On an average, mining accounts for just 32 per cent of the total expenditure on raw material used at JCW. Contrast this with the fact that limestone accounts for more than two-thirds of the raw material used by the plant. Of the total expenditure on mining, 1.5 per cent

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