Investigations into Jabalpur iron ore mining case in which top officials of city-based Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) have been booked have revealed that huge quantities of the mineral allegedly to be illegally extracted from the mine finally reached China. The case came into limelight this September as CBI booked three senior officials including the second-in-command of IBM, the government agency for regulating mining operations. Two Jabalpur-based businessmen Sumit Agrawal and Pradip Mittal running M/s Pacific Exports the company which was allotted the mine were booked too.
The company has been charged with having extracted iron ore much beyond what it was permitted to. The IBM had fixed the limit of extraction at 80,000 tonnes a year from the mine at Selora Tehsil in Jabalpur district. Within seven months of the first year of operations, 17 lakh tonnes were mined. The value has been pegged at over Rs 1,000 crore.
The market was so flush with iron ore from this company that even sponge iron manufacturers for whom it is a raw material exported it in sizable quantities, said sources. These include quite a few firms from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The transactions were routed through various layers.
M/s Pacifc Exports mined the ore and sold it to different companies that included domestic sponge iron makers who ultimately exported the commodity. CBI is now looking whether sponge iron manufacturers are allowed to export ore they ostensibly buy for own consumption, said the source. The process of ascertaining the quantum of iron ore exported was underway for which the amount mined will have to be exactly assessed first, the source said.
However, sources in this industry said iron ore exports being free, there was no bar on even the sponge-iron makers selling the commodity abroad. "Certainly there is a shortage of iron ore in the country now after the crackdown on mines in Bellary pushing the rates to as much as Rs 7200 a tonne from Rs 4,000 earlier. Exports are further worsening domestic availability," said a senior officer in a city-based iron and steel unit.
Most of the consignments reached the Vizag port in Andhra Pradesh from where it was shipped to China. The investigators have compiled a list of around 50 companies that purchased the ore from M/s Pacific Exports and its related concerns. CBI is learnt to have started correspondence with these companies and some have confirmed having purchased the ore.
The affair is being dubbed as another Bellary and the IBM officers booked by the CBI are alleged to have turned a blind eye even as the rampant mining beyond the permitted limit continued. IBM did not hold a single inspection though it was mandatory soon after production crossed half the limit.
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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