Iron ore exports: Congress sets up committee

Joining the chorus against iron ore exports from Orissa, the Congress party has set up a committee consisting of former Union minister Srikant Jena and other state Congress leaders to prepare a note on the implications of the current mining policy of Naveen Patnaik government.

According to AICC general secretary in charge of Orissa V Narayansami, the committee's report will be ready soon, following which a delegation of party leaders will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to demand a ban on the export of iron ore from the state.

Congress leaders argue that Patnaik government has entered into dozens of MoUs with private companies to tap the mineral resources of Orissa, which will have an adverse impact on the livelihood of the people, especially tribals.

"In the name of development, the state government has given a lot of tribal land to multinationals. Besides seeking a proper compensation and rehabilitation package for these tribals, we also demand that these companies should be allowed to send out finished products only. We are against the export of raw materials like iron ore from Orissa," Narayansami told Business Standard. Orissa unit of the Congress had earlier successfully opposed disinvestment of Nalco.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) MP Tapan Sen has written a letter to the PM urging him to stop the exports of Haematite iron ore immediately as a long-term measure to sustain the National Steel Policy. The letter, written on October 12, stated that the draft National Steel Policy has projected total iron ore requirement (mostly Haematite) of 190 million tonnes per year in 2019-2020 for production of 110 million tonnes of steel.

Thus the cumulative iron ore requirement for the country till 2019-2020 would be around two billion tonnes (taking 2004-2005 as the base year).

Simple arithmetic shows that usable Haematite iron ore reserve may last only up to 2030. Even the exploitable reserve of Haematite iron ore presently estimated at 12.9 billion cannot last beyond 2050 unless the export of Haematite iron ore is stopped immediately.

In order to reach the strategic goal of 110 million steel production in 2019-2020, trading in iron ore within the country should be encouraged to ensure availability of Haematite iron ore to all steel plants across the country while promoting local value addition.

Sen also sought the PM's urgent intervention to curb "iron ore fundamentalism" practised by some state governments in preventing/hurdling intra-country iron ore shipment outside state boundaries, which may otherwise undo the National Steel Policy.