Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd has filed a nearly $600-million claim against Indonesia in the international court, alleging that overlapping mining permits have disrupted its operations, a government official said.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration will hold a hearing on the case in Singapore on December 6, said Heriyanto, director for legal affairs at Indonesia's mining ministry.
"We are being sued for 7.7 trillion rupiah ($560 million) because they are unable to carry out production," Heriyanto told reporters.
"They are holding mining business permits but they cannot produce because they overlap with seven other permits in East Barito, Tabalong and South Barito."
IMFA officials were not immediately available for comment.
Land disputes and overlapping permits for plantation and mining operations are a common problem in Indonesia as various government agencies use different maps and data.
President Joko Widodo's administration is trying to resolve the problems caused by overlapping permits by finalising an official map that shows the nation's geographical features in greater detail.
Previous administrations have made similar attempts at a so-called one-map policy but with little success.
($1 = 13,770 rupiah)
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.