Malash Kulkarni writes:  In a court order on April 18, 2013, iron ore mines in the state of Karnataka south of Mumbai were classified in three categories. “C” signified large scale violations of the mining rules.  Fifty-one mines in this category had their leases cancelled and are up for sale to end-users.  End-users have the capacity to make use of the ore by breaking it through chemical reduction processes to final products which include pig iron, sponge iron and steel, but exclude pellets and the extraction of minerals and gangue.

The auction of mines is likely to benefit ‘end-users’ like JSW Steel, Kalyani Steel and BMM Ispat, which do not have captive iron ore mines and depend on e-auction of iron ore for their raw material requirements. As new mining leases are unlikely to be given out in the state in the near future, auction of mines could give steel mills a big opportunity to acquire the natural resource.