‘Reserving 7 iron ore mines violation of nat’l mineral policy’

Ranchi: Former chief minister and BJP’s legislative party leader Babulal Marandi termed the Jharkhand government’s decision to reserve seven iron ore blocks in West Singhbhum district a violation of the National Minerals Policy (NMP) of 2019.
In an open letter to the Union mines minister Prahlad Joshi, Marandi sought the Centre’s intervention into the state government’s decision stating that the Hemant Soren government is leaving very little room for private miners to operate in Jharkhand as the bulk of the state’s iron ore reserves are held by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Tata Steel.
On August 18, the state cabinet had approved a proposal of the state’s mines and geology department to reserve seven iron ore blocks in West Singhbhum for Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation (JSMDC). “The seven blocks, whose lease period had ended, are spread over 1,178.59 hectare and hold cumulative iron ore reserves of 228.07 million tonne,” Marandi claimed in his letter.
The lease were held by M/S Rameshwar Jute Mills in Baraiburu (258 hectare), M/S Nirmal Kumar Pradip Kumar in Ghatkuri (149 hectare), Padam Kumar Jain in Thakurani (84 hectare), Mishri Lal Jain and Sons in Karampada (202 hectare), M/S Shah Brothers in Karampada (233 hectare), M/S Rungta and in Ghatkuri (138 hectare).
Claiming that 70% of the state’s total iron ore mining lease area (cumulative of 115.32 square kilometre) is held by SAIL and Tata Steel since Independence, Marandi said the reservation of seven mines for JSMDC violates the NMP’s spirit, which mandates fair distribution of natural resources.
“Barring Tata Steel and SAIL, only 30% of the total iron ore lease area land is accessible to other players. With the decision to reserve seven more mines, private players will be left with just 15% of the total reseve,” Marandi wrote.
In his letter, Marandi also claimed that the move to reserve the mines will cost Rs 40,000 crore to the state government in terms of revenue through premium on sales over a period of 50 years. “The move has also sent a wrong message to the investors as JSMDC has given out a message to the investors in the past that the state is not investor-friendly,” Marandi wrote.