In News:

• The Supreme Court has raised the ceiling limit of iron ore mining for Bellary, Chitradurga, and Tumkur districts in Karnataka.
• The court ruled that conservation of the ecology and environment must go hand in hand with the spirit of economic development.

What’s in today’s article:

• Iron ore Statistics
• Iron ore in India (Reserves, Production, Challenges)
• News Summary

Iron Ore statistics:

• Iron ore is the source of primary iron for the world's iron and steel industries.
• Almost all iron ore (98%) is converted into pig iron which is further used for steel making which is then used in construction, transportation, energy infrastructure and household appliances.
• Iron ore is mined in about 50 countries. Australia and Brazil together dominate the world's iron ore exports, each having about one-third of total exports.
  • Australia is the leading global producer of iron ore, accounting for 38% of the total production.

Iron Ore Reserves in India:

• With the total resources of over 33.276 billion tonnes of haematite and magnetite, India is amongst the leading producers of iron ore in the world.
  • Of the two, haematite is considered to be superior because of its higher grade.
• About 79% haematite ore deposits are found in the Eastern Sector (Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha & Uttar Pradesh) while about 93% magnetite ore deposits occur in Southern Sector (Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, & Tamil Nadu).
  • Karnataka alone contributes 72% of magnetite deposit in India
• India is the third-largest producer of iron ore in the world.

Challenges faced by Indian Steel Industry:

• Despite being the third-largest producer of iron ore, India is far behind when it comes to producing and using specialised steel.
• The reasons behind this apparent mismatch are mentioned below:
  • Low per capita consumption due to overall poverty –
    • Against a world average per capita consumption of 224.5 kgs of steel, India’s was a mere 75 kgs.
    • Meanwhile, China’s per capita consumption stands at 590 kgs.
  • Shortage of power –
    • Steel-making is a power-intensive business, and India is a power-deficit country.
  • Costly coal imports from Australia –
    • India’s relation to coal vis-à-vis iron ore remains inverse.
    • There is much less coal for every tonne of iron-ore mined, which calls for coal imports to keep captive power plants running.
    • Australia and Indonesia are two major countries that supply coal to India.
    • Of these, Australia has been hiking coal prices which directly affects the price of iron and steel in India.

News Summary:

• The Supreme Court has raised the ceiling limit of iron ore mining for Bellary, Chitradurga, and Tumkur districts in Karnataka.
• The court added that the situation in the state had “vastly changed” since the time a ban was imposed on mining in these districts in 2011.

Background:

• Acting on reports of rampant illegal mining, the Supreme Court had prohibited all mining activity in Bellary, followed by Chitradurga and Tumkur in August, 2011.
• The court directed disposal of the accumulated iron ore through the process of e-auction conducted by the Monitoring Committee and also constituted a Special Purpose Vehicle to take mitigating measures.
• In May 2022, the court after considering petitions, had allowed the “already excavated stock” to be sold directly without resorting to e-auction.
  • The petitions said the e-auctions conducted by the Monitoring Committee had received poor response and sale of iron ore even at the reserve price is dismally low.
• Subsequently, the court has also allowed to increase the ceiling limit of iron ore mining in the three districts.