The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries has strongly objected to Indian steel companies' policy of selling surplus iron ore in the domestic market and crying for a ban on iron ore export to meet shortage of the commodity.
The Supreme Court verdict on mining royalty case will give a further jolt to the Indian mining industry and will have very large financial implications, as arrears may work out to the tune of more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore, industry players said on Wednesday. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the power of states to levy tax on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land, and allowed them to seek refund of royalty from April 1, 2005 onwards. According to a senior mines ministry official, the verdict will have a very large financial impact on mining, steel, power and coal companies.
In June last year, India unveiled its first list of 29 critical minerals open for private sector exploration and mining. Since then, 38 critical mineral blocks have been auctioned, but only 14 - less than 37 per cent - have found bidders. This modest achievement was secured only after the Centre conducted a second round of auctions when the first round fell flat, failing to attract the minimum required bidders.
India is planning to soon sign new and updated mineral pacts with about a dozen countries in Africa. The Ministry of Mines is in discussions with Cte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Business Standard has learnt. Negotiations are ongoing with around a dozen countries, and more will be added to the list soon.
A primary producer said that the prices would be raised in tranches this month and the total increase could be Rs 6,000 a tonne.
India's apex mineral export body, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, says the imposition of the Rs 300 per tonne export duty on iron ore has severely impacted the industry.
Ban fiats, freezes and new levies are ensuring a drying up of operations and new investments, complain companies.
The mining industry demanded a long term freight policy to make it more cost-competitive to enable miners contribute in containing inflationary trends within the economy. The mining industry body criticised the Railways for re-classifying iron ore in category-180 from 170 from Tuesday besides hiking the port congestion surcharge on exports of the mineral from 60 to 100 per cent from April 15. The iron ore industry fetches highest revenue for the Railways after coal.
The output has seen a decline due to the ban in Karnataka and Goa.
Karnataka proposes to auction 15 of its Category-C mines to end-users.
The government has already said it is keen on starting ore mining and exports.
A bill to auction coal mines is also likely to be passed later.
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