Govt tells Karnataka to restrict iron ore mining to 30MT/yr

A government body assessing the environmental impact of mining in Karnataka has in its report recommended restricting of iron ore mining in the state to 30 million tonnes per year, the Economic Times newspaper said on Monday. The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) has said the quantity was sufficient to meet local requirements of steel and sponge iron makers, the newspaper said quoting people privy to the report.

Bellary district could sustain 25 million tonnes of iron ore mining, and an additional 5 million tonnes could be mined in Chitradurga and Tumkur districts, the report said. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had banned mining in three districts of Karnataka citing environmental concerns and asked ICFRE to carry out an environmental impact assessment or EIA.

The top court later allowed state-run NMDC to mine up to 1 million tonne per month from its captive mines in the state. The ban has adversely impacted steel companies such as JSW Steel, which slashed output due to non-availability of the natural resource. Karnataka accounts for about a quarter of iron ore shipments from India, the world's No. 3 supplier of the steelmaking raw material, after Australia and Brazil.