Ore exports continue as mine owners resort to new tricks

Officials of the Department of Mines & Geology Hospet confirmed to PTI that permits were issued to local mining companies for transporting the ore to SBQ Steel in Nellore and Essar Steel in Visakhapatnam, as well as Apparent Iron and Steel and some other steel mills of Goa.

The permits, they said, were issued after taking an undertaking from mining companies that the iron ore is meant for domestic steel mills and not for export, the officials said.

Sources in the industry, however, said politically well- connected owners with links to several steel mills in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa were exporting the iron ore under the guise of supplying it to these industries.

"Of course, we do verify all documents at check posts, but once the trucks cross the state's borders, we cannot say whether the trucks head to the designated steel mills or to ports for exports," the RTO Inspector at the Hagari check post, Nijamuddin, said.

The government's latest move to install six closed circuit television cameras near Hagari, bordering Andhra Pradesh, to curb ore exports have proved ineffective, official sources said.
However, Nijamuddin said the number of trucks approaching the border has come down to 50-70 per day following the installation of CCTVs.

In the last two days, around 250 trucks were spotted at a railway point along the inter-state border loading ore on to wagons bound for Andhra Pradesh.