Industry body Assocham has sought a hike in iron ore export duty to 20 per cent to contain spiraling prices and also generate about Rs 15,000 crore as revenue for the exchequer.
Iron ore lumps at present attract 15 per cent export duty and there is a 5 per cent export levy on iron ore fines.
Assocham said the chamber has written to the finance, commerce and steel ministries to increase the export duty on both iron ore lumps and fines. The industry body said the move will also help to curb illegal iron ore mining in the country.
"The chamber strongly suggested imposition of 20 per cent export duty on iron ore fines as against the current levy of five per cent. We seek the same levy for iron ore lumps. This will generate additional revenue of Rs 15,000 crore for the exchequer," Assocham said in a statement.
The chamber said the ban imposed by China on the import of iron ore with less than 60 per cent FE content may lead to an increase in illegal mining, as domestic miners seem to have suddenly increased "operations manifold".
A uniform export duty of 20 per cent on iron ore may help contain such malpractices, it said.
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Moreover, Assocham blamed the iron ore mining industry for "distorting facts" about the capacity of domestic steel producers to use iron ore fines to manufacture the commodity.
"The private iron ore miners, who are making a windfall profit through exports, have created a myth that iron ore fines are lying in excess in the country and claim the Indian steel industry is not equipped to use the same. This is a total distortion of facts," it added.
Assocham also refuted claims from the mining lobby that a hike in iron ore export duty will hit the country's outward shipments and impact the economy adversely.
Further, the body criticised the business of "major global miners" producing and exporting coking coal as "oligopolistic", adding to the input cost for domestic steel- makers. Iron ore and coking coal are vital inputs for steel making.
The country exported about 106 million tonnes of iron ore in 2008-09 and it is expected that a similar volume was exported in the last fiscal, according to Federation of Indian Mining Industry Secretary-General R K Sharma. The majority of Indian iron ore exports comprise iron ore fines.
Iron ore prices have almost doubled to $160 a tonne, compared to the rates prevailing in the last fiscal.