Mines Tribunal stays K'taka's move to axe NMDC's mining lease

Hyderabad: The Centre's Mines Tribunal has kept in abeyance the cancellation of the mining lease of Donimalai iron ore mine by the Karnataka Government extended to the state owned NMDC Limited .

The Karnataka government had earlier withdrawn the extension of the mininglease granted to the mine in November 2018 for a 20 year period. Challenging the state governments decision, the PSU moved the Mines Tribunal, which heard the petition on August 21 and stayed the Order.

"The said Stay Order would prohibit the Government of Karnataka to take any furtheraction regarding mining lease or initiate auction process of Donimalai mine," the National Mineral Development Corporation said in a statement last night.

NMDC was earlier in legal battle with the Karnataka government over the issue of imposition of 80 per cent premium on the sale price of the iron ore extracted from Donimalai Mines.

However the Karnataka High Court last month set aside the governments move.

Iron ore deposits in the Donimalai mine are estimated at 143 million tonnes (MMT) and worth around Rs 40,000 crore. NMDC had leased the mine in 1968 for a period of 50 years. The lease expired on November 3, 2018.