The ban on iron ore mining in Goa and Karnataka is not only hurting the economy but has rendered as many as one lakh people jobless, Vedanta Resources chief Anil Agarwal today said.
“Paralysis in iron ore mining hurting industries and people sentiments, has put Goa and Karnataka economy in shambles, leaving 100,000 jobless,” Agarwal tweeted today.
The tweet comes against the backdrop of the mining ban hitting the two States hard. The Government has already said it is keen on re-starting ore mining and exports.
According to Vedanta, it was producing about 20 million tonnes of iron ore prior to the ban.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram recently said the Mines Ministry would move the apex court seeking relaxation in some of the orders passed on iron ore mining in Goa and Karnataka. In April, the Supreme Court partially lifted the ban on mines in Karnataka.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also made a case for increasing exports of iron and other ores.
Before the ban, India was exporting iron ore worth over $7 billion, making it the third-largest global exporter.
However, after the 2011 Supreme Court ban on exports of most categories, shipments plunged to 18.37 million tonnes in 2012-13 from 117.4 million tonnes in 2009-2010.
The miners’ body FIMI has already warned that exports are likely to be in single-digits this fiscal.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma too has said mining is an important industrial activity and India has a huge exportable surplus. He also said mining creates employment for a large number of people.
The Supreme Court ban last year in September came in the wake of the Karnataka Lokayukta report about irregularities in the sector and was extended to Goa, effectively stopping exports from that State too, based on a report by its Central Empowered Committee.
According to reports, the ban on iron ore mining has adversely impacted economic activities in Goa and the collection of import and export duties. Realisation from import and export duties in April-October this fiscal slipped to Rs 457.4 crore from Rs 1,605.51 crore in the same period last year.
The realisation from export duty, which was the major contributor of revenue, slipped to a meagre Rs 14.85 crore during the seven-month period as compared to Rs 1,166.63 crore in the same period last fiscal.
Export duty on iron ore, which is levied at 30 per cent, has been the major source of revenue for the State. The Centre had collected as much as Rs 3,714.18 crore as export duty during 2011-12, raising the total duty realisation from the State to Rs 4,527.96 crore.