NMDC moved HC after exhausting all options in Karnataka: CMD
Hyderabad, Dec 23: After exhausting all other options, NMDC Ltd moved the Karnataka High Court on the issue of levying 80 per cent premium by the Karnataka government on the iron ore extracted from Donimalai mines in the state, said a top official of the miner.
NMDC suspended iron ore mining from its Donimalai mine in Karnataka following the state governments decision to impose 80 per cent premium on the ore sales from that mine whose lease has been extended by the government with effect from November 4 for a period of 20 years.
The suspension of production from Donimalai mines will have some impact on the output target for the current fiscal, NMDC CMD N Baijendra Kumar said.
NMDC recently filed a petition in the HC challenging the Karnataka government move to impose premium on the ore extracted from Donimalai mines.
"Our objective is to request the state government and solve the issue very amicably. We pleaded with folded hands before the government and requested that this (levying 80 per cent premium) is not legally correct.
"I told the Chief Minister (H D Kumaraswamy) that we are a public sector company and please help us. The Chief Minister never said no.
"It is at the bureaucratic level, there are some noises. Finally ,we had to move the court because we exhausted all other options," Kumar told PTI.
A senior official of NMDC said with the 80 premium, the miner would be losing Rs 1,348 per tonne which may result in a loss of Rs 944 crore per annum as the PSU extracts about seven million tonnes of iron ore a year from that mine.
During FY18, NMDC produced 35.57 million tonnes against 34 MT in FY2017.
The Karnataka Cabinet has approved the mining lease of Donimalai till November 2038 on payment of 80 per cent of the average sale value as published by Indian Bureau of Mines, according to Mining Secretary Rajendra Kumar Kataria.
"Since the matter is in the court, we will wait for the outcome. We will file our reply to the court hopefully next week well within the stipulated time," Kataria said when asked about the governments move.
Kataria had earlier said the state in the recent past had auctioned 12 mines where the weighted average of the premium was more than 110 per cent and NMDC also participated for mines for which it offered 95 per cent and 105 per cent as premium.
Justifying the move to take legal recourse, the NMDC CDM said they offered high premium for some of the mines keeping in view the market dynamics and competition.
NMDC, in its petition, said the imposition of 80 per cent premium is "illegal" and the condition must be quashed.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
