“Mining has only resulted in displacement of lakhs of tribal families instead of creating jobs for them”

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday urged the governments in the mineral-rich Naxal-affected States to focus on development of agriculture and implementation of rural development programmes instead of focusing on mining to create employment. Addressing a gathering of Dongaria and Kutia Kandha tribal groups on the foothills of Niyamgiri hills in this tribal-dominated block of Kalahandi district, Mr. Ramesh underlined the need for prioritising agriculture and rural development saying that mining in the country’s mineral-rich States such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand had only added to the people’s miseries. Mining had only resulted in displacement of lakhs of tribal families instead of proving to be beneficial for them, he added.

8 quarries fetch Rs 101 cr against reserve price of Rs 4.02 cr

High bidding may lead to higher sand, gravel rates. The first e-auction of sand mines, having environmental clearance in north India, today generated a lot of interest among mining contractors from across the region. The auction was held for eight quarries — three each in Jalandhar and Kapurthala and one each in Mohali and Ludhiana — spanning over 337 acres of land. Against the Punjab Government's reserve price of Rs 4.02 crore, the quarries fetched a record Rs 101.09 crore.

Special fiscal and incentive packages for industrial growth in North East “have so far failed to trigger major investment flow in the region in the manner it was conceived,” said Paban Singh Ghatowar, minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER). He said in the absence of secondary sector, the growth of North Eastern states during the 11th Plan period was driven just by the primary and tertiary sectors.

“Special fiscal packages under North East Industrial Policy (NEIP) and North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPPP) have so far failed to trigger major investment flow in the region in the manner it was conceived.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of its guidelines mandating forest clearance prior to environmental clearance, saying the related procedures have delayed and stalled 22 important projects worth over R20,000 crore.

The highway authority has also sought a direction to the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to modify its office memoranda (OM) of March and April 2011 so as to delink the two clearances in respect of widening of national highways.

Minister for Industries and Commerce, S.S. Slathia today called upon the mining industries to pay royalty dues as early as possible adding that mine lease deeds of all the willful defaulters will be cancelled shortly.

Interacting with a delegation of Federation Chamber of Industries (FCI), Kashmir at Civil Secretariat, Mr. Slathia said some industrialists have become habitual of retaining royalty due with them without any reason or logic despite repeated reminders which is causing loss to the State Exchequer. He said the Government will now act tough against all such willful defaulters.

The Odisha Sponge Iron Manufacturers' Association is seeking a long-term policy to supply ore to local industries

Faced with shortage of raw material and high prices of iron ore, sponge iron makers in Odisha have asked state-controlled miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to abandon the auction-based method of price determination. “OMC should abandon the current auction-based method of price determination and bring down the prices of its iron ore. The corporation should also dispense with the system of empanelment and its raw material may be made available to all state-based industries only,” said P L Mohanty, chairman of the Odisha Sponge Iron Manufacturers’ Association (OSIMA).

PANJIM: As the mining lobby waits with baited breath for the Supreme Court judgement on the writ petition, things began to churn at the State level with the Department of Mines and Geology Monday starting the process of renewing mining leases pending since 2007 and getting an ‘in-principle’ approval for renewal of one mine, an official disclosed.

The department’s proposal was cleared ‘in principle’ by Chief Minister and Mines Minister Manohar Parrikar and then sent to the Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni for legal approval.

PANJIM: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has discharged all show cause notices issued to 43 mining firms, over excess iron ore production (beyond the environment clearance limit), claiming that the Board is not in a position to verify the data and pointing out that the Supreme Court is currently seized of the matter. Goa Foundation, which had submitted the data, has already withdrawn from the matter as the Apex Court is seized of it based on its PIL.

The Board said “as there is no conclusive evidence before them” regarding the mining units having exceeded permissible limits in extraction of mineral ore, which can only be conclusively verified by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) that is the relevant authority to verify it, it was disposing off the matter.

Board nod must for pushing State’s case for new dam

The State Wildlife Board on Thursday will decide on a request for conducting an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the new Mullaperiyar dam in the Periyar Tiger Reserve area and the declaration of eco-sensitive zones around wildlife sanctuaries of Kerala.

The first meeting of the recently reconstituted board will take up a proposal for an increase in the water level of the Peppara dam in Thiruvananthapuram. The clearance of the board is required for pushing the State’s application for the new dam. The delay in reconstituting the board had delayed the proceedings in the case.

PANJIM: In a fresh salvo fired at the government by the green lobby, environmentalist Ramesh Gawas has charged that the government’s process of revalidating licences of ore traders is illegal and should be scrapped since the giving of trading licences itself by State government is ultra virus.

The Mines Department, meanwhile, has maintained that trading of ore was completely legal and that the State government was empowered to make rules under Section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act).