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,

Infra ministers, govt bodies join the chorus as murmurs about corruption resurface

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.

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.

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.

Two faces known for supporting mining & hydel power inducted in Forest Advisory Committee

Companies such as BMM Ispat, Kalyani Steels, Kirloskar Ferrous and MSPL are working on 20 days to one-month inventories

Shortage of iron ore supply from Karnataka is posing a challenge to steel and pellet-making plants to maintain their production levels.Companies, such as BMM Ispat Ltd, Kalyani Steels, Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd and pellet-making companies like MSPL Ltd, Sesa Goa and Dempo, facing acute ore shortage, hold raw material inventory for just 20-45 days.