Days after sending a notice to the Odisha government on September 6, seeking temporary closure of its one million tonne refinery at Lanjigarh, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc has sought ban on bauxite exports from the country.

The company is struggling to keep its refinery operations afloat with the plant running at barely 50 per cent capacity amid deepening uncertainties in bauxite availability. VAL has not been allotted any mine in Odisha and fully depends on external bauxite supplies to run its refinery.

Bangalore The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday carried out searches at 17 locations across Karnataka and Goa as part of the Supreme Court-ordered probe into the illegal mining and export of iron ore from the state’s Belekeri port. While the residence of some aides of the jailed mining magnate and former Karnataka minister G Janardhana Reddy were raided, the companies whose offices were searched include ILC Industries, which is associated with Reddy’s family, Eagle Traders, SB Logistics, Swastik Traders and Shree Mallikarjuna Shipping.

15 teams search homes and offices of several exporters, no arrests made so far

A week after the Supreme Court ordered for an inquiry by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged illegal export of 5 million metric tonnes of iron ore from Belekeri port in Karnataka, the CBI officials began search operations on several iron ore exporters and mining firms at various places in Bangalore, Karwar, Hospet and Goa, early this morning.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to register a case tomorrow to probe the illegal mining of 5.07 million tonnes of iron ore from forests in Karnataka.

The case, being filed on the directions of the Supreme Court, is also likely to probe the role of the state police and other authorities, tasked to check large-scale mining and export of the ore. CBI Director A P Singh held meetings with senior officials to finalise the case, in which the agency might probe as to how around 0.8 million tonnes of ore seized by the forest department was allowed to be exported to various foreign companies from the Belekeri port, official sources said.

Mumbai The mining ban imposed by the state government of Goa is unlikely to have a major impact on the likes of iron miner Sesa Goa as the current quarter is a lean season for mining in the state, analysts said on Tuesday.

“Seasonally, Q2 is the weakest quarter for Sesa Goa, where it sells only 10-12% of its annual output, given the monsoon in Goa,” said Bhavesh Chauhan, metals analyst at Mumbai-based brokerage Angel Broking. Meanwhile, Sesa Goa said on Tuesday that it has begun efforts to ensure early restart of the company’s operations in the state.

Mines in the western Indian state of Goa were ordered to close on Tuesday after a government-backed inquiry estimated illegal trade in iron ore had cost more than $6.0 billion in five years.

The Supreme Court will start proceedings in the case against some companies involved in the illegal transportation and export of iron and manganese ore from Belekeri Port near Karwar on Friday.

Founder chairman of National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) S R Hiremath stated that during the proceedings, a few more skeletons are likely to tumble out of the cupboard. Four major mineral export companies operating from Belekere port are involved in the large quantum of illegal export of ore to Singapore, Hong Kong and other nations.

The Department of Environment yesterday penalised the owner of an illegal leather gloves factory in Ashulia with a Tk 37 lakh fine.