Ministry to take final call on Iron ore export

With the ministries who are at loggerheads on the issue of allowing export of iron ore, Union Minister for Mines Dinsha Patel on Wednesday said the Finance Ministry will take a final decision on permitting shipments after reducing the export duty.

The Mines Ministry said it has given its recommendations on export duty on iron ore but the final call will be taken by the Finance Ministry, he told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event .

Though Ministries of Mines, Commerce, and Finance are favouring the reduction of export duty from the current 30 per cent to 20 per cent to encourage export of iron ore, Industries and Steel Ministries have opposed this saying allowing shipments would hurts the domestic steel makers.  

Dismissing the Steel and Industry Ministries concerns, Patel said there was no shortage of iron ore in the country to meet the demand of domestic steel producers, Patel said there would be no problem to meet the demand even in 2020 when India is expected to produce 200 million tonne steel.

“There has been fall in production I admit, but this is because of court in Karnataka and Goa. Mining has also started in Karnataka. 'A' category mines have stated production. Production in 'B' category mines also need to be started,” he said.

Regarding Goa, where mining has been stopped now, Patel said consultancy meeting among various ministries has already taken place and, hopefully, by the end of October or in November, the problem would be sorted.