National Mineral Policy 2006 - Department of Mines

7.17 This group adds that in India, SAIL and Tata Steel follow modern and scientificmethods of mining while many non-captive miners do not follow good practices. Of the totaliron ore mined in the country, only about 50 per cent is beneficiated. This is done bycompanies such as SAIL, Tata Steel, Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL),National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), and Goan mining companies such asSesa Goa Ltd, Chowgule and Company Limited, and Salgaocar Mining Industries. The rest50 per cent comes mostly from stand alone / SME mining companies that neither beneficiatenor follow scientific mining practices. The work done by captive miners for preservation ofenvironment, development of social infrastructure in mining areas, and for tribals inneighbouring areas has been recognised in international forums such as the United Nations’Global Compact.7.18 The second interest group is that of steel mill owners who do not have captive iron oremines or have very few of them and would like to own captive mines, as is done by the firstgroup. At present, this group of steel makers is served by the iron ore mines of the NMDC,which sells iron ore to them at the international market price, much above the cost ofextraction. Owing to their capacity expansion plans, this group is unsure that NMDC willcontinue to service their enhanced iron ore needs, as the NMDC’s expansion plans are muchlower than theirs. While this group does not agree with the claim that steel making is nonviablewithout iron ore at extraction cost from captive mines their main ground for seekingcaptive mines is that a level playing field is necessary between steel makers who own captivemines and those without captive mines. The group strongly argues in favour of captivemining per se in the belief that iron ore resources are limited and they should be reserved forsteel makers.7.19 The third interest group is that of the stand alone miners who wish to develop iron oremines as independent industrial units. According to them, but for a few exceptions such asBaosteel (China), Mittal (CIS), and Arcelor (through acquisitions in Luxembourg), which arepartly served by captive mines, stand alone mining is the model followed all over the worldand the major steel producing countries such as Korea and Japan source their iron ore fromiron ore producing countries, including Australia, Brazil, and to some extent, India. Thisgroup argues that reliance on captive mining in iron ore would be detrimental to the fulldevelopment and growth of the mining sector as well as the economy as a whole, as captive145