<p>There is a ray of hope for state-owned iron ore miner KIOCL. Over 11 years after it suspended mining activities at its Kudremukh mines in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats, the company has got an allocation of mining lease. The Karnataka government has allotted a mining lease spread over 474 hectares at Devadaru hills in Sandur taluk in the mineral-rich district of Ballari.<br /><br />“The state government has issued a Gazette notification dated January 23, 2017, to this effect following an approval for the same by the Union government in December last year,” a KIOCL official told DH.<br /><br />KIOCL will prepare a detailed mining plan after it gets a clearance from the forest department and other statutory approvals, he said.<br /><br />Currently, the company is operating its 3.5-million tonne per annum pellet plant at Mangaluru without a captive mine of its own. Due to non-captive source of iron ore, KIOCL was unable to meet iron ore requirement of the pellet plant and its operations had become an unviable proposition. The 100% export-oriented unit was not allowed to source iron ore in its home state of Karnataka as exports from the state were banned.<br /><br />The company, which operated captive mines at Kudremukh in Chikkamagaluru districts since 1970, shut down its mining operations from 2006 onwards following a direction from the Supreme Court on environmental grounds. It is sourcing iron ore from NMDC’s mines in Chhattisgarh incurring huge logistics costs which in turn cuts into the profits of the company.<br /><br />It may be recalled, the Standing Committee on Coal and Steel set up by the Parliament had made a strong recommendation to the Karnataka government to allot captive mines to KIOCL. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015, which was amended two years ago, provides for reservation of mining assets to public sector companies. Under Section 17 A 2(A) of MMDR Amendment Act 2015, KIOCL had made a fresh application to the Karnataka government for allotment of captive mines.<br /><br />The company had initially sought mining lease in Ramanadurga region of Ballari district, which has rich reserves of iron ore.</p>
<p>There is a ray of hope for state-owned iron ore miner KIOCL. Over 11 years after it suspended mining activities at its Kudremukh mines in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats, the company has got an allocation of mining lease. The Karnataka government has allotted a mining lease spread over 474 hectares at Devadaru hills in Sandur taluk in the mineral-rich district of Ballari.<br /><br />“The state government has issued a Gazette notification dated January 23, 2017, to this effect following an approval for the same by the Union government in December last year,” a KIOCL official told DH.<br /><br />KIOCL will prepare a detailed mining plan after it gets a clearance from the forest department and other statutory approvals, he said.<br /><br />Currently, the company is operating its 3.5-million tonne per annum pellet plant at Mangaluru without a captive mine of its own. Due to non-captive source of iron ore, KIOCL was unable to meet iron ore requirement of the pellet plant and its operations had become an unviable proposition. The 100% export-oriented unit was not allowed to source iron ore in its home state of Karnataka as exports from the state were banned.<br /><br />The company, which operated captive mines at Kudremukh in Chikkamagaluru districts since 1970, shut down its mining operations from 2006 onwards following a direction from the Supreme Court on environmental grounds. It is sourcing iron ore from NMDC’s mines in Chhattisgarh incurring huge logistics costs which in turn cuts into the profits of the company.<br /><br />It may be recalled, the Standing Committee on Coal and Steel set up by the Parliament had made a strong recommendation to the Karnataka government to allot captive mines to KIOCL. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015, which was amended two years ago, provides for reservation of mining assets to public sector companies. Under Section 17 A 2(A) of MMDR Amendment Act 2015, KIOCL had made a fresh application to the Karnataka government for allotment of captive mines.<br /><br />The company had initially sought mining lease in Ramanadurga region of Ballari district, which has rich reserves of iron ore.</p>
