NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday requested disbanding of the Supreme Court imposed district-wise cap on iron ore mining to help boost ramping up production of steel, per capita consumption of which in India is at a laggardly 78 kilograms.
While a bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli reserved its decision on plea of iron ore mine lease holders seeking permission to export the mined mineral lying at mining pits in the absence of buyers at e-auctions, the Centre said there is no ban on iron ore exports under the existing policy and that removal of cap on mining would help inter-state movement of iron ore.
Amicus curiae A D N Rao said the mined mineral should be first e-auctioned and the unsold minerals could be permitted to be exported. The Centre through additional solicitor general K M Nataraj said India annually produces around 120 million tonnes of steel, which requires more than 192 million tonnes of iron ore.
India’s per capita consumption of steel is around 78 kg, which is one of the lowest in the world, the Centre said, adding, “production of steel needs to increase in the immediate future, which hinges on availability of proportionate quantity of iron ore”.
The SC had imposed ban on exports and restricted quantity of iron ore to be mined in Karnataka, Odisha and Goa given the mindless mining activities by greedy mine lease holders resulting in serious damage to environment.
The Centre said, “In order to rectify environmental damage and move towards circular economy, consumption of steel in the country needs to be increased exponentially so that major portion of steel is produced using scrap (in the future).”
Requesting the court to consider vacating the order imposing district-level caps on iron ore mining from mines in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts of Karnataka to ensure availability of sufficient iron ore in the state, the Centre said, “the court may consider equality of treatment between the Karnataka iron ore mines and the rest of the country, which alone would permit inter-state trade (which at present in not operational) in iron ore mined in Karnataka.”
“Further, export of iron ore to other countries may take place in accordance with the extant policy of Union government,” the Union ministry of steel said in its affidavit.