Karnataka sitting on permits to reopen 93 iron ore mines.

Two and a half years after the Supreme Court allowed 117 iron ore mines in Karnataka to reopen, only two dozen have become operational. The state government has been sitting on lease renewals and clearances for the remainder, leaving mining companies in a tizzy and forcing steel makers to import an unprecedented 15 million tonnes (mt) of iron ore from countries as far as South Africa in 2014-15. The BJP-led central government, which imposed a 20 per cent safeguard duty to protect domestic steel industry last week, has urged Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah to expedite the mining permits to shore up domestic iron ore output, which shrank in five of the first seven months of 2015. Iron ore is a key ingredient in making steel. Officials and industry players blame the lack of clearances on a combination of bureaucratic paralysis, political factors (the BJP is considered close to sections of the state's mining lobby) and onerous conditions that made the mines unviable. "Last year, India imported 15 mt iron ore, out of which we imported 10 mt," said Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director and group CFO of JSW SteelBSE 0.67 %. He said many steel plants had come up in Karnataka due to its rich iron ore reserves and are finding it difficult to procure the raw material from outside the state or abroad.