Lok Sabha Question No. 654 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-26
Subject: Iron Ore Production
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Supriya Sadanand Sule

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 654

ANSWERED ON 26.06.2019

## IRON ORE PRODUCTION

## 654. SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

DR. HEENA GAVIT: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE: SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA: DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of iron ore reserves in our Country, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether  the  country  faces  acute  shortage  of  iron  ore  which  creates  severe crisis/shortfall  of  iron  ore  production  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the corrective steps taken by the Government to overcome the shortage;
- (c) whether licences of mines expiring under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015 will not be renewed and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the Government has plans to streamline grant of mining leases especially iron  in  order  to  maintain  sufficient  availability  of  raw  materials  for  the  various sectors and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government plans to set up a mining regulator at both Central and State levels to regulate mining activity and prevent illegal mining from flourishing; and
- (f) if so, the composition of the regulator at the Centre and State level alongwith the time by which it will be set up?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINES, COAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

- (a): As per information made available by Indian Bureau of Mines (a sub-ordinate office of the Ministry of Mines), State-wise/Grade-wise details of quantum of deposits of Iron ore available in the country as on 1.4.2015 is annexed.
- (b): As per information made available by Indian Bureau of Mines (a sub-ordinate office of the Ministry of Mines), the production and domestic consumption of iron ore during the last five years are as follows:

(Units in million tonnes)

| Year        |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017-18 | 2018-19   |
|-------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Production  |    129.32 |    155.91 |    192.08 |    200.9  | 206.4     |
| Consumption |    114.68 |    122.62 |    137    |    154.59 | NA        |

It  seems from the above table that there is no shortage of  iron ore  in the country to meet the current demand/consumption.

(c)  &  (d):  The  Government  has  notified  Mines  and  Minerals  (Development  and Regulation)  Amendment  Act,  2015  to  streamline  grant  of  mining  leases  in  order  to maintain  sufficient  availability  of  raw  materials  for  the  various  sectors.  The  most important provisions of the amended Act are as follows:

- (i) All mineral concessions will be granted only through auction;
- (ii)  Uniform lease period of 50 years; no renewals; auction at the end of lease period;
- (iii)  To ensure the uninterrupted supply of raw material to the industries, section 8A(5) and  8A(6)  of  MMDR  Amendment  Act,  2015  provides  for  deemed  extension  to non-captive mines upto the year 2020 and captive mines upto the year 2030;

To ensure supply of raw material by timely auction of  leases  expiring  in  2020  under section  8A(5)  of  the  MMDR  Act,  the  Central  Government  has  amended  the  Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017 vide gazette notification no. G.S.R. 289(E) dated  27.03.2018  making  it  mandatory  for  the  lease  holders  to  carry  out  G2  level exploration over the entire mineralised area by 1st April, 2019.

The State Governments are empowered to carry out auction of mineral blocks under the extant act/rules. As on date, 20 blocks of iron ore have been successfully auctioned with a reserve of 583.057 million tonnes. Additionally, 24 blocks of Iron ore (fifteen in Odisha, eight in Karnataka and one block in Andhra Pradesh) are being prepared by the State Governments to be put on auction during FY 2019-20, which will increase the production of iron ore in the country.

(e): No, Sir. There is no such proposal for setting up a mining regulator at both Central and State levels to regulate mining activity and prevent illegal mining from flourishing.

(f): Does not arise in view of the reply given to (e) above.

*****

## Annexure

## State-wise/Grade-wise details of quantum of deposits of Iron ore available in the country as on 1.4.2015

(Unit: in '000 tonnes)

| State          | State     |   Reserves |   Remaining Resources |    Total |
|----------------|-----------|------------|-----------------------|----------|
| Andhra Pradesh | Hematite  |      29768 |                311294 |   341062 |
| Andhra Pradesh | Magnetite |          0 |               1392098 |  1392098 |
| Assam          | Hematite  |          0 |                 12600 |    12600 |
| Assam          | Magnetite |          0 |                 15380 |    15380 |
| Bihar          | Hematite  |          0 |                    55 |       55 |
| Bihar          | Magnetite |          0 |                  2659 |     2659 |
| Chhattisgarh   | Hematite  |    1387437 |               3470687 |  4858124 |
| Chhattisgarh   | Magnetite |      11183 |                    42 |    11225 |
| Goa            | Hematite  |     358239 |                831075 |  1189313 |
| Goa            | Magnetite |       4990 |                261345 |   266336 |
| Jharkhand      | Hematite  |     439372 |               4847045 |  5286417 |
| Jharkhand      | Magnetite |          0 |                 10667 |    10667 |
| Karnataka      | Hematite  |     550247 |               1916607 |  2466854 |
| Karnataka      | Magnetite |        446 |               7801744 |  7802190 |
| Kerala         | Magnetite |          0 |                 83435 |    83435 |
| Madhya Pradesh | Hematite  |      62063 |                267900 |   329963 |
| Maharashtra    | Hematite  |      17241 |                276862 |   294103 |
| Maharashtra    | Magnetite |        583 |                   302 |      885 |
| Meghalaya      | Hematite  |          0 |                   225 |      225 |
| Meghalaya      | Magnetite |          0 |                  3380 |     3380 |
| Nagaland       | Magnetite |          0 |                  5280 |     5280 |
| Odisha         | Hematite  |    2572217 |               4986447 |  7558664 |
| Odisha         | Magnetite |         74 |                    79 |      152 |
| Rajasthan      | Hematite  |       4658 |                 33745 |    38404 |
| Rajasthan      | Magnetite |      35423 |                581493 |   616916 |
| Tamil Nadu     | Magnetite |          0 |                507037 |   507037 |
| Telangana      | Hematite  |        509 |                 52673 |    53181 |
| Telangana      | Magnetite |          0 |                 71514 |    71514 |
| Uttar Pradesh  | Hematite  |          0 |                 58000 |    58000 |
| India          | Hematite  |    5421751 |              17065214 | 22486965 |
| India          | Magnetite |      52699 |              10736455 | 10789155 |

Source: Indian Bureau of Mines