Iron ore conservation not possible though banning exports'

Conservation of iron ore may not be possible through banning or capping exports but by taking recourse to fiscal measures, government today said.

"The government has decided that although conservation of iron ore resources is of paramount importance, the same may not be achieved by banning or capping the export of iron ore but by taking recourse to appropriate fiscal measures," Vishnu Deo Sai, Minister of State for Steel and Mines said in the Rajya Sabha.

Replying to an unstarred question, he said: "At present, production of iron ore in the country is sufficient to meet the requirement of the steel industry."

Stating that there was a decline in output of the key steel-making raw material in the past few years, he said this was due to production getting impacted by legal and regulatory issues.

India produced 167.29 million tonnes iron ore in 2011-12, 135.85 million tonnes the next year and 152.06 million tonnes in 2013-14. Domestic consumption never exceeded the production in these years.

To a separate question, he said SAIL was conducting a feasibility study for establishing an integrated steel plant in Khammam district of Telengana.

Most of the Indian iron ore used to go to China. India was one of the top three exporters of the raw material in not so distant past. However, it has come down to a little over 16 million tonnes in the last fiscal.

The government has imposed an export tax of 30 percent on iron ore and five percent on iron ore pellets. The Railway freight for movement of iron ore meant for exports is higher compared to freight rate applicable to domestic movement. This is to discourage exports.

In a separate answer, Sai said state-run SAIL plans to export higher volumes of steel after commissioning of new facilities to enhance its global presence.

"SAIL has fixed a higher export target of 0.6 million tonnes during 2014-15 which is about 71.43 percent higher as compared to 2013-14 MoU target of 0.35 million tonnes," he said.

Source : moneycontrol.com