Sharing the concerns of the Dongria Kondh tribe of Niyamgiri in Kalahandi district whose protests had put a halt to Vedanta’s bauxite mining plan two years ago, over hundreds of tribals, under the

In an attempt to fast-track coal production, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has decided to allow companies with mining leases to expand production by 25% over the initially approved plan, without having to secure a fresh environment clearance (EC) from the ministry.

The move will help companies avoid the cumbersome process of getting EC approvals — which includes public hearings that may take up to three years — for their first expansion. For subsequent expansions, however, a new EC will be required.

PANJIM: Just a day before, the mining-dependent people are set to march on the streets of Panjim, to protest the suspension of mining operations, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Monday, offered sops to them, declaring that he would initiate several schemes for their welfare beginning January 2013.

In a hard hitting declaration, Chief Minister warned that only 8500 trucks, presently registered with Directorate of Mines and Geology, would be permitted to transport ore, when mining eventually resumes in the State. Mining company trucks too would be granted permission to transport ore.

PANJIM: Director of Mines and Geology issued show cause notices to 39 mines over condonation of delay.

The illegal mining committed during 2006-11 in three districts of Karnataka has resulted in the state losing a revenue of Rs 3,414.45 crore and the government could recover only Rs 7.22 crore, a report by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India said.

In Chitradurga, Tumkur and Hospet divisions four lessees had extracted 1.47 million mt of iron ore valued at Rs 150.59 crore without the consent of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), the CAG report tabled in the Assembly said.

Report endorses Lokayukta findings on loss to the State exchequer

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has almost endorsed the Karnataka Lokayukta report on illegal iron ore mining and pegged the total loss due to illegal exports of ore at Rs 15,245 crore from 2003 to 2010. Besides, the CAG has estimated Rs 3414.45 crore loss to the State Exchequer due to “compliance deficiencies.” However, unlike the Lokayukta report, the supreme audit institution of India has not directly indicted any public servant.

Continuing its crackdown on non-serious players, the Ministry of Coal deallocated two more coal blocks- Baitarani West and Naini- allotted in Odisha in view of the unsatisfactory progress in development of the coal mines and end-use plants.

The deallocation has been effected by the ministry on the basis of recommendations made by the inter-ministerial group (IMG) of the Centre on coal block allocation. The government has also forfeited 50 per cent bank guarantee provided by the allocatees at the time of allotment.

Steel minister Beni Prasad Verma has cautioned environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan against delaying green clearances for SAIL’s iron ore mines in Orissa and Jharkhand. Delays have led to the discontinuation of mining in the predominantly tribal areas, said Verma, cautioning this could trigger law and order problems and stoke naxal activities in these areas.

Verma’s November 30 letter follows SAIL’s top brass cautioning that delays at two SAIL mines — Gua in Jharkhand and Bolani in Orissa — could trigger serious raw material scarcity at its Bokaro plant in Jharkhand and Integrated Steel Plant in West Bengal.

The recent clamp-down on miners by the Odisha government, the largest producer of iron ore in the country, is likely to affect India’s sponge iron production by around 15 per cent in the current financial year, according to the Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association (Sima).

“Since Odisha is the largest producer of iron ore and sponge iron, the recent measures taken by the state government will surely impact on (the country’s) sponge iron output. In 2011-12, the output was around 20 million tonnes (mt). We expect this to drop by 15 per cent in 2012-13,” said Deependra Kashiva, executive director of Sima.