Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based non-government body, has issued a report on major failures of governance and regulation in the Indian mining sector. Explaining how regulatory lapses led to criminality, it has said former Karnataka minister and mining magnate Janardhana Reddy allegedly used his official position to extort huge quantities of iron ore from other operators, using government regulators as part of his scheme.

HRW has said Reddy may have run an extortion racket in the state, along with his brothers Karunakara and Somashekara Reddy, usurping mineral production of other miners in return for providing protection from government regulation.