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The Karnataka government is planning to allot new mining leases only for captive use to steel mills as directed by the Supreme Court.
The leases of Category C miners, that have been cancelled for rampant illegal mining, will be allocated to steel mills, chief minister Siddaramaiah said today.
Addressing the National Council meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here on Friday, he said, illegal mining has been stopped in the state completely. The process of allotting Category C mines to captive users would take some time, he said.
The Supreme Court, in its order on April 18, 2013, had ordered for the cancellation of 51 leases in Category C and directed for reallotting them for captive consumption to steel mills. Siddaramaiah said, the government was committed to supporting the IT sector which had created huge employment in the state, especially in Bangalore.
"My government is committed to providing whatever cooperation is possible to the IT sector," he said. He said, the government was keen on early implementation of its ambitious Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) near Devanahalli on the outskirts of the city on about 10,000 acres land to boost the Information Technology sector.
The Chief Minister said, the state has set an ambitious target of becoming surplus in power generation by 2017 as several new projects are under way. He also made it clear that his government would not acquire fertile land for industry and its policy is to ensure that there should be no speculation on land and the impact of acquisition is minimal for land losers.
"There should be a balance between agricultural and industrial use of land," he said.
