The State government, which has strongly favoured establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for rejuvenating areas devastated by illegal mining, has found that mining lessees have made windfall profits with little investment and with negligible concern for sustainability.

The government is in favour of retaining a higher portion of the revenue earned by the lessees so that it could finance infrastructure and environment projects in districts of Bellary, Chitradruga and Tumkur. In its interlocutory application before the Supreme Court this month, Karnataka has presented how mining lease holders have made supernormal profits without investing much funds. The next hearing of the case is scheduled on January 8.

The iron ore-starved steel industry in and around Karnataka might have to wait longer to for the smooth supply of key raw material for its blast furnaces as the opening of Category B mines, which contain larger deposits, is getting delayed.

The delay is due to non-fulfilment of certain conditions imposed on these mines by the Supreme Court. The Court is likely to hear the appeal for opening of Category B mines at the next hearing on January 8, 2013, industry sources said. The Supreme Court (SC) appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has approved the reclamation and rehabilitation (R&R) Plans of 23 mines under Category B in Karnataka. These mines, which can together produce over six million tonnes of iron ore per annum, are presently awaiting the apex court’s nod to resume mining.

Loss due to non-revision of domestic prices by the company in line with movement of market price

Iron ore miner NMDC has suffered Rs 745.94 crore revenue loss during 2007-10 for not revising the domestic prices of the steel-making raw material in line with prevailing market rates, government auditor CAG said. "...Due to non-revision of domestic prices by the company (NMDC) in line with movement of market price, the company has suffered a revenue loss of Rs 754.94 crore during 2007-10," CAG said in a report, tabled in Rajya Sabha, today.

Meet this week to discuss proposal to increase 2013-14 wheat MSP by Rs 100

Riding high on NMDC stake sale garnering Rs 6,000 crore, the Cabinet is expected to discuss on Saturday a proposal to sell 12.5 per cent of its 92.5-per cent stake in state-run Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF). Officials said the Cabinet is also expected to discuss a proposal from the agriculture ministry to raise the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat for the 2013-14 crop marketing season, which starts from

Munat informed the House that the plant would be requiring 6000 cubic meter of water per day during the construction stage and 147120 cubic meter per day for operating the plant. The minister said pipe lines would be laid from Indrawati and Sabri rivers to the plant site for ensuring water supply

The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) would get water for its Nagarnar steel plant from Indrawati and Sabri rivers. The Minister for Industry in Chhattisgarh, Rajesh Munat informed in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly (CLA) on Wednesday that the state government would meet NMDC plant’s water requirement from Indrawati and Sabri rivers flowing in Bastar region where the mining major is setting up a steel plant.

The Centre today asked the Odisha government to sort out the forest diversion issues expeditiously in the mining areas.

State-owned miner NMDC Ltd is working out a method to enter into long-term supply contracts with buyers for iron ore produced and sold through e-auctions in Karnataka.

The company, in a recent submission to the Supreme Court, indicated it would enter into long-term contracts by providing basic price and fixing the prices through e-auction.

Reeling under serious raw material crises, steel makers in Chhattisgarh want Odisha model in the state for their survival.

The Odisha government in its recent order had directed that atleast 50 per cent of the iron ore lumps and 50 per cent of the iron ore fines won from the mines in any month and not put to captive use by the lessees should be sold to the stand alone mineral based industries located in the state. The instruction shall be effective from December 2012 till further order.

Having received only limited success in their global quest for natural resources, public sector metal and mining companies might turn their focus now on just a handful of mineral-rich countries whe

The proposed capacity expansion would help it feed its upcoming steel-making plant in Chhattisgarh and also partly meet domestic steel makers growing demand

State-run NMDC plans to increase its iron ore production capacity to 48 million tonne per annum (mtpa) by 2014-15 from current installed capacity of 32 mtpa. The proposed capacity expansion would help it feed its upcoming steel-making plant in Chhattisgarh and also partly meet domestic steel makers growing demand.