The Supreme Court on Friday permitted state-owned NMDC to operate two of its mines in Bellary in Karnataka from Saturday. This will allow NMDC to produce one million tonne of iron ore a month in Karnataka to meet the domestic requirements.

However, the court clarified that no part of the production should be exported. It also prevented private companies from mining in the region.

Further, it directed the Karnataka Government to charge royalty at 10 per cent of the current market value of iron ore and asked NMDC to maintain an account of such amount paid. So far, the Karnataka Government has been charging a royalty of 10 per cent on the rate fixed by the Indian Bureau of Mines at the pit-head, which is much lower than the market value.

Now, the State Government will have to deploy the higher income earned from royalty (which is the difference between the 10 per cent of market value of iron ore and the Indian Bureau of Mines rate) for rehabilitation of the mined area, the court said.

The court directed the State Government to submit within three months the rehabilitation and reclamation plan of Bellary district.

ENVIRONMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The court also sought within three months a macro-level Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of the region from the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India, the Forest Survey of India and such domain experts as may be decided by the ICFRE in consultation with the Environment Ministry.

In its report, the ICFRE should also include the necessary inputs from the mining industry, the court said. The Ministry has been asked to frame detailed terms of reference for the EIA within a week.

Citing the “extraordinary circumstances” on the “emergency” in meeting the domestic demands of the steel industry, the court said through its order it wants to balance its primary concern regarding the right to clean environment with the economic interests.

The court also sought to know from the mining companies how much they are contributing to the Corporate Social Responsibility and whether it is being reflected in their balance-sheet.

It said if the public and private sectors cooperate in expediting the rehabilitation of the area, the requirements of the steel industry can be met fast. The companies should also carry out mining scientifically, it said.

According to the Mines Ministry, the total iron ore requirement of the steel industry in India is 105 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), while the Steel Ministry has estimated it at 111.4 mtpa. The Bellary mines supply 26.5 mtpa-27.72 mtpa. The total iron ore production in India is over 200 mtpa, of which around 95-100 mtpa is exported.

The apex court had, last month, ordered suspension of mining and transportation of iron ore from Bellary. It said there was large-scale environmental degradation due to “over-exploitation” of the area. The court had taken note of the Central Empowered Committee report, according to which most of the miners in the area were carrying out illegal mining and damaging the environment.

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