Steel ministry supports plea in SC to lift ban on iron ore export from Karnataka

After the Ministry of Mines, the Union Steel Ministry has also come out in support of a demand in the Supreme Court to lift the ban imposed on the export of iron ore mined in Karnataka.

It also said the top court may consider equality of treatment between mines in the State of Karnataka with rest of the country, which would permit inter-state trade, (not operational at present) of iron ore extracted in Karnataka.

The Ministry also asked the court to consider vacating the order for district-level caps on iron ore mining imposed on production in Ballari, Chitradurga and Tumakuru districts in order to ensure the availability of sufficient iron ore in Karnataka.

Also Read | SC seeks Steel Ministry's view on plea for lifting ban on export of iron ore in K'taka

In a written response to a plea by Karnataka miners, the Steel Ministry said the country produces 120 million tonnes of steel annually which requires more than 192 million tonnes of iron ore. Further, the per capita consumption of steel in the country is also one of the lowest in the world.

"In order to rectify environmental damage and move towards circular economy, consumption of steel in the country needs to increase exponentially so that major portion of steel is produced using scrap, for which the production of steel needs to increase in near future, which hinges on availability of proportionate iron ore," the Ministry said.

It also relied upon the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee report on April 10, 2022, which stated that the mining scenario has improved since 2018 and the court may consider vacating orders on total ban on export of iron ore and pellets from three districts of Karnataka and on fixing district level caps on production of iron ore in respect of category 'A' and category 'B' mines from the financial year 2022-23.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana is slated to take up the matter on Monday.

On April 11, the top court had asked the Steel Ministry to clarify its stand on the plea by miners from Karnataka for removing the ban on export of iron ore from the state.

The court had noted that although the Ministry of Mines supported the demand, the petitioner NGO, Samaj Parivartan Samudaya, has opposed the plea, saying the Steel Ministry was yet to make its stand in the matter known.

In an affidavit, the Ministry of Mines had earlier said, "In other parts of the country, there is no restriction on export of iron ore. The restriction imposed in Karnataka was under extraordinary situation prevailing then because of unprecedented illegal mining. However, as the situation has changed, the court may allow export to bring these mines on par with the other States."

Acting on a PIL, the court had on April 18, 2013 imposed the ban on export of iron ore from Karnataka's three districts and fixed a maximum permissible annual production limit.

The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, Southern Chapter asked the court to reconsider its decision as the miners in the state failed to get genuine prices, making them suffer financially and even face closure, while the mining companies in rest of the country had access to an open market. The Karnataka Iron Steel Manufacturers Association, however, opposed the plea.

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