Highway ban hits iron ore exports from Karnataka

Export of iron ore from Karnataka has been hit for the last two days as the movement of cargo trucks has been banned on sections of National Highway 63. It connects the Hospet-Bellary-Sandur mines to the state's ports on the west coast.

Karnataka's three ports ""Karwar, Bellikeri and New Mangalore "" exported a combined 15 million tonnes of iron ore last fiscal. Though big companies use goods trains to route their exports, small mine owners and traders rely on trucks to transport iron ore to the ports.

Karnataka, which has the second largest proven deposits of iron ore (3.5 billion tonnes) in the country, exported 30 million tonnes last fiscal. There are 66 mining leases for iron ore in Bellary, Koppal, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts. Some of the Goan companies also hold mining leases in Karnataka.

These miners routed bulk of their exports through Mormugao port in Goa. However, two mechanised loaders at Mormugao port developed snags which will be repaired only by the year-end. As a result, exporters are now routing their stocks through ports in Karnataka. However, the ban on movement of the trucks has hampered transportation of iron ore to the ports.

The ban was imposed by the district administration in coastal Uttara Kannada as the condition of the highway has deteriorated due to the monsoons and heavy movement of iron ore-laden trucks. Everyday, 3,000 trucks use the road to transport the iron ore.

Exporters now have to take a detour of 78 km through the treacherous Western Ghats, a time consuming process. Exporters have sought the intervention of the chief minister to resolve the issue. "The ban has been imposed at the wrong time. There is a high demand for the Indian iron ore in China. We cannot afford to delay shipments," a representative of the Bellary-Hospet Iron Ore Mine Owners' Association, told Business Standard.

Under a makeshift arrangement following the ban on the movement of trucks on NH 63, exporters tied up with the Konkan Railway Corporation to carry iron ore-laden trucks on goods train to the New Mangalore port from the Ankola railway station. But that did not work out since the goods train can carry only 120 trucks per day as against 3,000 trucks that travel by road.

At present, the NH 63, which connects the iron ore-rich Bellary district to the western coast via Gadag, Hubli, Haliyal, Yellapura and Ankola, is the only road link to the ports from the mines. The other road link "" National Highway 48 "" which connects Hassan to New Mangalore port is in an even poorer condition and iron ore trucks avoid it.