Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to secure Karnataka's iron ore-rich Ramandurg mines for steel sector PSUs even as Mines Minister Sis Ram Ola has favoured the property for trading firm MMTC.
Paswan's letter to the Prime Minister comes on the heels of Ola ignoring the suggestions of top officials, including former Mines Secretary Shantanu Consul and Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, to get 1,503 hectares of the mining area reserved for state-run MMTC.
"...Kindly intervene in the matter to safeguard the rightful claims of NMDC and KIOCL, mining PSUs of the government of India, which have proven record and expertise in scientific mining. This will also be in the national interest," Paswan said in the letter.
Ola has been in the eye of storm for ignoring suggestions of Consul and Chandrasekhar and asking his ministry to issue a notification on reserving the mines for MMTC, whose core business is not mining.
The top officials had suggested seeking Legislative Department's opinion on the matter as a few writ petitions related to the claims over Ramandurg mines were pending in the Karnataka High Court.
In its opinion to the Centre, the Karnataka government had also advised against any hasty action on reservation of the mines in view of the pending litigations.
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PSUs like NMDC and KIOCL are among the claimants for Ramandurg mines, which is said to be possessing around 500 million tonnes of iron ore. Private-sector firms like MSPL, JSW Steel and Ramgarh Minerals are also eyeing the prized property.
Though the government is yet to issue a notification for reservation of the mines, NMDC has slapped a legal notice on the Mines Ministry, saying the proposed move would be in violation of the model code of conduct and contempt of court.
The Ramandurg mining range was initially reserved for exploitation by state agencies, but was later de-reserved (in 2003). About 500 companies, including MSPL, Kalyani Steel and JSW Steel had applied for it.
In a recent communication to the Mines Ministry, the Karnataka government said, "Sending proposal to reserve the (Ramandurg) area under section 17A (1A) of the MMDR Act, 1957, does not arise since it (the matter) is sub-judice."
However, setting aside all the suggestions, Ola, through repeated notes, wanted his ministry to immediately issue a notification in favour of MMTC.
A draft notification for the same was prepared in February, but was not approved by the internal wing of the Mines Ministry. Meanwhile, Consul, who joined the Ministry last year, has been transferred to the water resources department.