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.
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Constitution amendment bill defeat was BJP’s first embarrassment in Parliament: Margaret Alva
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva on Monday said that the constitution amendment bill's defeat in the Lok Sabha on April 17 was the first embarrassment faced by the BJP-led government in Parliament.
She also alleged that the BJP has no real concern regarding women’s reservation.
The opposition INDIA bloc defeated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill that sought to facilitate the implementation of women's reservation by expanding the strength of the Lok Sabha, apart from making changes to delimitation.
"This is the first embarrassment and defeat faced by the NDA government in the Lok Sabha," the former Governor of Gujarat and Rajasthan said in a press conference here.
According to her, the women’s reservation has been under discussion since the time of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, a 14-member committee was formed, and I was appointed as its chairperson. We prepared a report after studying what needed to be done to enhance the dignity of women across 12 sectors. This was submitted to the government in 1989,” Alva, 84-year-old veteran Congress leader, said.
She said political empowerment for women was emphasised in that report, without which, empowerment in any other sphere is not possible.
“Many people in Parliament used to question me — should we vacate seats for women and stay at home cooking? Why insist on this? Has anyone written these seats in your name? This debate has been ongoing since 1975,” Alva explained.
The Congress leader said Rajiv Gandhi had introduced 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.
“At that time, all opposition parties united and defeated the Bill,” she pointed out.
Again, during the tenure of former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao, the 33 per cent reservation Bill in local bodies was passed.
“It was the Congress party that first introduced women’s reservation. Now they are falsely accusing us of being anti-women,” Alva charged.
In 2023, the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed with much fanfare, but it was not immediately implemented.
According to her, a condition was imposed for its implementation that it would be enforced based on census data.
"Once it is in the statute book, what is preventing its implementation? Two years for the census and another two years for delimitation — this means it cannot be implemented by 2029. It was not given in 2024, and there is no possibility even in 2029," Alva charged the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The Congress leader said the BJP is saying that the Bill can be implemented based on the 2011 Census, but when the same suggestion was made in 2023, the BJP rejected it.
On increasing the Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent, she sought to know the basis for it.
“Where did this (idea) come from? Whose advice was taken? Was it decided by the RSS? Or ordered by a court?” Alva asked.
The former union minister said the Constitution amendment bill, which was defeated on April 17 appears to favour certain North Indian states.
“We pay taxes, but they receive greater benefits and allocations. If seats are increased by 50 per cent based on their calculations, we would get only 14 additional seats, while they would get 40. How is this fair?” she questioned.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to "operationalise" the women's reservation act before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory Assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
