Iron ore mining: State govt. order upheld

21 Aug 2017

The Revisionary Authority (Tribunal) of the Ministry of Mines has upheld the order of the State government cancelling the in-principle agreement given to the Karnataka-based MSPL to carry out iron ore mining in Chakkittapara in the district.

Joint Secretary and Revisionary Authority Niranjan Kumar Singh said in the order that there was no infirmity in the State government’s order withdrawing the in-principle approval as the company had failed to obtain the statutory clearances in a period of almost five years.

“The in-principle approval specifies that formal sanction of mining lease will be issued on production of all statutory clearances. The statutory clearances were not furnished by the applicant in spite of several extension of time. The situation on the ground may change in a period of five years and ecological aspects and public interest may become important and the government is bound to take into consideration such issues. The applicant cannot claim any right over grant of natural resources, which have widespread ecological, social and economic ramifications,” the order said.

Further, it noted that the State government had sought reports from the Revenue, Forest and Wildlife, and Mining and Geology departments and took the decision to withdraw the in-principle approval.

The MSPL, a flagship company of the Baldota Group of Companies, approached the Revisionary Authority after the Left Democratic Front government in July 2016 rejected its request for extension of the in-principle approval for granting of mining lease in 406.45 hectares of ecologically sensitive region in the Western Ghats.

The company had proposed to set up the Alampara Iron Ore mining project with a production capacity of 5 MTPA iron ore.

Source-the hindu