Shortage of iron ore for local industries can be solved by banning exports, said the civic activist and former Karnataka Lokayukta, Mr Santosh Hegde.
Speaking on ‘Rebuilding Karnataka – Investors’ angle, logistical issues and sustainability’, at the OreTeam’s second annual meet, Mr Hegde said, “Local industries create jobs and they should be encouraged to operate on a sustainable basis. Also, mining should be sustainable and should take care of local people and its environment.”
“I am not against iron ore mining but it has to be sustainable and the human factor has to be factored into any mining operations,” he added.
Illegal mining
Defending his report on illegal mining, Mr Hedge said, “The State government suffered enormously on account of illegal mining. The government was getting Rs 27 as royalty per tonne of iron ore while exporters were making a clean profit of Rs 5,000 - 6,000.”
In 2010-11, 48.6 million tonnes of ore was mined illegally, which was more than the entire legal mining operations. The State government suffered a total loss of Rs 12,228 crore from illicit mining.
Chikmaglur in focus
In his presentation, Mr Bidyut Chakraborty of KPMG Advisory Service said that on more intensive exploration, the core of the iron ore mining in Karnataka may shift from Bellary to Chikmaglur.
Mr S.S.H. Naqvi, senior vice-president, JSPL, said, “Pellets are cost-effective and environment-friendly, and can easily be transported through pipelines in the form of slurry.”
He stressed that the government should come out with a clear policy on laying of slurry pipelines.
“Some years ago, Karnataka used to be a steel hub but the growth rate has slowed down because of huge problems in the mining sector. However, this is only a temporary phenomenon and the growth of steel in the state can’t be stopped by such interruption,” he added.
Mr Naqvi said the accumulated iron ore fines at various mine heads need to be beneficiated for value-addition. “Pellets can be easily sold to domestic steel mills and sponge iron plants or even exported. The iron ore pellet industry has the potential to become a major driver for the State’s iron and steel industry.”