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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Karnataka’s illegal mining: Panel suggests to scrap 49 patently illegal licences

Karnataka’s illegal mining: Panel suggests to scrap 49 patently illegal licences

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published Published on Feb 8, 2012   modified Modified on Feb 8, 2012
-The Economic Times

A panel set up by the Supreme Court to investigate Karnataka's illegal mining mess has made some important recommendations. It says 49 licences are patently illegal and should be scrapped. 

Another 72 mining companies should be fined for operating outside sanctioned areas. It also asks for Karnataka's iron ore output to be capped at 30 million tonnes, down a third from its 45-million-tonne level till the court banned all mining in the state. 

These strictures are welcome: they could help restart mining in the state and bring Karnataka's crony capitalism to heel. Till recently, Bellary stood for the worst excesses of Indian capitalism. The notorious Reddy brothers used their illegal mining wealth to buy into the BJP, into ministerships and local administration. 

That structure has been partially dismantled after CM Yeddyurappa was forced out and one of the Reddy brothers imprisoned. If the court upholds the panel's recommendations, much of the damage can be undone. 

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) also says, correctly, that all mining licences should be auctioned. This will dismantle the shady first-come-first-served mechanism by which well-connected state politicians and businessmen jumped queues to grab mining leases. 

Auctions will also help discover the correct price of mining licences. Finally, the CEC's suggestion, that all ore should be sold at market rates, is welcome. It has argued, correctly, that even ore from captive mines should be sold at market prices. 

There is no reason why this should be restricted to mines in Karnataka. The government must do the next logical thing: it should scrap the policy of granting captive mines to produces of metals or power across the country. 

India's steel and aluminium makers benchmark their metal prices against globallytraded prices, but have input costs close to zero, thanks to captive ore mines. This only serves to destroy value addition in mining or transfer it to metal-making, artificially boosting profits there. 

All captive mines now in operation should be handed back to the government, which can then hold global auctions for operating them.

The Economic Times, 8 February, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/karnatakas-illegal-mining-panel-suggests-to-scrap-49-patently-illegal-licences/articleshow/11801393.cms


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