The Congress on Thursday alleged that the Narendra Modi Government changed the policy for the export of iron ore to facilitate “theft” of Rs 12,000 crore in export duty since 2014. The Opposition party further claimed that the actual penalty for violation of the iron ore export rules on the private players would amount to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that this policy for the export of iron ore was altered in a hurry right after Prime Minister Modi took charge.
“In 2014, the Steel Ministry of India removed the 64% Fe concentration cap on iron ore and along with that gave Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) the permission to export iron ore to countries like China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan,” he said.
Congress has demanded that the Modi government make the names of the private players, who violated the rules and indulged in export of iron ore pellets, public. It has also questioned as to whether any action was initiated against the Steel Ministry officials “who allowed illegal export to take place”.
Notably, the KIOCL is an enterprise which comes under the Ministry of Steel and was formed in 1976 for the mining and processing of low grade iron ore.
Before 2014, only the Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) was allowed to export iron ore, and an export duty of 30% was imposed on such trading. Notably, the MMTC — in which the Indian government has an 89% share — was allowed to export only iron ore with 64% concentration of iron.
Congress further alleged that a new policy on the export of iron ore was drawn under which “it was decided that iron ore exports will continue to have a 30% duty on them; however if the same iron ore is made into pellets and exported as pellets then there would be no duty on these exports.”