In Brief
For over two decades, the Supreme Court has supervised mining operations in Karnataka's Bellary, Chitradurga, and Tumkur districts following severe environmental degradation from illegal mining. The Court had imposed a blanket ban on mining and mandated e-auction sales of excavated iron ore through a Court-appointed Monitoring Committee. This 2022 order, addressing multiple applications from mining and steel companies, relaxes these restrictions. The Court permits direct sales of excavated iron ore stockpiles through inter-state trade and exports (within Government policy) while continuing e-auction for old stock. However, the issue of lifting production caps remains pending for further expert input. The Court found environmental conditions had improved substantially and consecutive e-auctions were yielding poor results.
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