Hike in iron ore export duty irks Goa mining industry
January 4th, 2012 - 4:18 pm ICT by IANS
Panaji, Jan 4 (IANS) A recent decision of the union finance ministry to hike export duty on iron ore from 20 percent to 30 percent has irked trade organisations in Goa.
The Goa Mineral Ore Exporters’ Association (GMOEA) and the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Wednesday said the decision would hurt the mining industry very hard, even as the sceptre of the Justice M.B. Shah Commission probing illegal mining in India hangs over the mining trade in Goa.
In a statement, GMOEA secretary Glenn Kalavampara said the Dec 30, 2011, decision was detrimental to Goa’s iron ore industry.
“We are shocked by the decision… Goan iron ore is low grade in nature with lesser Fe (iron) content and it is not used for internal consumption,” Kalavampara said.
“In other parts of the country where high grades are produced, the mining industry is a small percentage of the GDP (gross domestic product) of a state. In Goa, it contributes to almost 35 percent of the state GDP.”
“So, the effect of reducing the turnover of the industry will hit hard the common man…,” said Kalavampara, calling for a urgent need to “upgrade technology so that low content iron ore could be used for domestic consumption.”
In a letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the GCCI president Manguirish Pai Raikar said the finance ministry had not given any rationale behind the second duty hike in a year.
“The low grade ores in Goa are unsuitable for domestic steel manufacturers and will not benefit the domestic steel industry. The lumpy quality is of too low a grade to be used in Indian steel mills because of their location in India and the cost to transport it overland to the mills, which have access to far higher grades of lumps,” Raikar said in the letter.
“If Goan iron ore is not exported and is not consumed in India, it ceases to become a strategic natural resource. It loses all economic relevance, and the low grade generated in the course of mining will have to be treated as a waste, causing environmental concerns to a tourist paradise,” he said.
The mining industry in Goa, which exported over 50 million tonnes of iron ore in the last fiscal, is already reeling under pressure following a probe by the Justice Shah Commission.
The opposition has pegged the mining scam in Goa at Rs.25,000 crore.
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- Goa Inc quotes Chidambaram to remind Kamat about failed promises - Jan 25, 2011
- 'Goa cap on iron ore extraction a must' - Mar 30, 2012
- Mining association admits to illegal exports from Goa - Nov 21, 2011
- Goa not in iron deposit intensive areas list - Jan 12, 2012
- 'Fly by night mining operators creating problems' - Nov 17, 2011
- Iron ore export from Goa to dip next fiscal: Exporters body - Oct 04, 2011
- Goa industry unhappy with budget - Mar 16, 2012
- Goa's draft mining policy soft on capping ore extraction (Goa Newsletter) - Aug 10, 2012
- Goa trade body demands Rs.1,000 crore grant for state - Mar 24, 2012
- Goa industry mulls conveyor belts to transport ore - May 19, 2010
- '25 mn tonnes illegal ore extracted in five years in Goa' - Nov 23, 2011
- Industry demands roll back in Goa power hike - May 08, 2012
- Auction iron ore from Goa, CM told - Sep 10, 2012
Tags: domestic consumption, domestic steel industry, duty hike, economic relevance, exporters association, fe iron, gcci, glenn kalavampara, grade ores, high grades, indian steel, internal consumption, iron content, iron ore industry, mineral ore, pranab mukherjee, state gdp, steel manufacturers, trade organisations, union finance ministry