The Supreme Court had banned mining in Karnataka in July 2011

The crisis seems to be far from over for the mining industry in Karnataka, Goa and Odisha, the three major iron ore producing states in the country. Though some relief came for the industry in Karnataka last year and again in April this year with the Supreme Court allowing partial resumption of mining operations, normalcy in the sector may not return anytime soon.

The Odisha government has agreed to form a committee to look into lease area encroachment by mine lease holders after getting direction from Shah Commission to this effect. The committee is scheduled to start functioning from March 4 and submit its report soon.

Illegal mining enquiry agency, Justice M B Shah Commission on Wednesday had asked the state government to form a committee to demarcate lease areas of different miners after they complained that the maps being referred by the Commission and the state government were not accurate.
"The committee will have seven members including representative from the state government, Shah Commission and Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM)," Shah said.

A six member team of Shah Commission, enquiring into illegal mining activities in Goa and Odisha, arrived here on Tuesday. The commission will hear views of the mine owners during this round of visit to the state.

"We will be hearing the lessees during the visit that will continue for about 3-4 days. Those lessees whose documents were examined during the last visit have been asked to appear before the panel," said U V Singh, additional principal conservator of forests, Karnataka and member of the Commission.

Exports of iron ore are likely to fall further during the next financial year (2013-14) and touch a record low, as Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal ignored the demand for a level field in the freight rates charged on movement of iron ore for domestic use and exports. There is already an export cess of 30 per cent on iron ore as a dampener.

In 2008-09, iron ore exports were at a record 110 million tonnes (mt), which have fallen to just 15 mt in the current financial year till November. The industry estimates that since government policies remain non-conducive, exports next year could be in single digit, maybe a few million tonnes.

The members of Shah Commission, enquiring into illegal mining activities, will reach Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

The fifth round of hearing of the state government and the miners by the Commission is expected to take place from Wednesday after Justice M B Shah reaches here. A team of the state officials including steel and mines secretary, will present their views in front of the panel members. They will be assisted by three Supreme Court advocates,

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When Jairam Ramesh was replaced as environment minister some 18 months ago, loud sighs of relief from industry greeted the news. Ramesh, in the short period at the helm of the ministry, had acquired a reputation for inflexibility, and many started blaming him for stalled projects and declining investments, some even holding his ‘activist’ zeal responsible for the ensuing economic slowdown.

Steel industry expects availability to fall further in 2013-14, no exports recorded since November

The severe shortage in iron ore supplies from Karnataka and Goa, where mining was stopped following a Supreme Court directive, and the cap on production in Odisha have led to India becoming a net importer of iron ore this financial year. Till 2011, India was the third-largest exporter of iron ore.

Supply drought from India is one important reason why spot ore prices climbed so strongly in December after sinking to a 3-year low in September

In an otherwise instructive guidance for all steel stakeholders, global rating agency Fitch Ratings in its ‘2013 outlook steel raw materials producers’ report says India stands the risks becoming a net importer of iron ore in 2013-14. This, by any yardstick, is a far-fetched observation. Federation of Indian Mineral Industries president H C Daga, a no-taker of a possibility of this kind, says, “The ore supply situation has become tight in the wake of a ban on mining in Karnataka and Goa.

Iron ore mining operations have been restarted in Karnataka's Bellary and Chitradurga districts, a year after these were suspended, following a Supreme Court directive. After securing all statutory approvals, two Category A mines have resumed mining, offering hope of regular iron ore supply to the ore-starved steel industry.

According to officials from the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi), two mining lessees, R Praveen Chandra in Chitradurga and B Kumar Gowda in Bellary, have commenced mining. Nadeem Minerals, which has a mine in Bellary, is likely to restart mining next week. Together, these mines would bring about 1.5 million tonnes (mt) of iron ore to the auction platform in about two weeks.

VAL will first start its captive co-generating plant (CPP) to generate steam, necessary for running the refinery

A week after a temporary shutdown of its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh, Odisha, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), buoyed by bauxite supplies of 40,000 tonnes from Bharat Aluminum Company's (Balco) Kawardah mines in Chhattisgarh, is readying to restart the plant on Monday.