A playground for mining magnates

After IT czars, Karnataka is now churning out a new breed of millionaires "" mining magnates, who have turned the towns of Hospet and Sandur in one of the most backward districts in the nation, Bellary, into a Mecca of high-end luxury cars, choppers and executive jets.

Ever since the Centre permitted the private sector to export iron ore, major mining firms "" many family-owned "" in iron ore-rich Bellary have witnessed their topline zoom, year after year. With iron ore prices rising from a mere $17 per tonne in 2000 to $55 per tonne in 2006, the mining firms never had it so good.

For instance, Minerals Sales Pvt Ltd (MSPL) of the Baldota group, the second largest private iron ore exporter, clocked revenues close to Rs 1,000 crore in the last fiscal.

Santosh Kumar Modi's Bellary Iron Ore Pvt Ltd and V G Mines Pvt Ltd earned revenues of Rs 560 crore. Others like Sajjab Wahab's Kariganur Minerals Mining Industry recorded Rs 1,500 crore in revenue.

Prakash V Ghotage, who owns the Rs 800-crore PVG Ltd, is called the "logistics king". For, he commands a fleet of 3,000 trucks and two railway rakes "" each with 58 wagons "" to transport ore for mining firms.

The region's wealthy have developed a reputation for being the first to buy the latest luxury cars. High-end cars like Bentley Continental GT, Volkswagen Sports, BMW Offroader and convertibles zoom on the pot-holed roads of Bellary.

The district has a high concentration of vehicles like Toyota Prada, Pajero, Hyundai Tuscon, Hyundai Terracan, Honda CRV, Ford Endeavor, Tata Safari and Scorpio.

Such is the purchasing spree that a local dealer sold 300 Scorpios in the first 100 days of operation. Even helicopters and executive jets are found parked around Hospet and Sandur.

There are three private airstrips in the region "" owned by the Jindal group, Kalyani group and MSPL, respectively. But with wealth comes fear and insecurity. The mine owners' face such a high risk that they have private armies providing them tighter security than is available to VVIPs.