Orissa to inspect iron ore mines for violations

By Jatindra Dash

BHUBANESWAR (Reuters) - The Orissa government will inspect several iron ore mines, a government official said, in a crackdown on firms involved in illegal mining or violating environment rules.

Since July, the government has inspected seven mines and registered criminal cases against eight mine operators and officials of the forest and mine department, Anup Kumar Patnaik, director of the state vigilance department told Reuters.

"In a week or so we will be able to lodge some more criminal cases. Further raids can also take place," Patnaik said.

He said some mine operators were digging up ores and were transporting them without having necessary clearances, and some officials were abetting them.

Orissa produced about 70 million tonnes of iron ore in 2008/09 out of India's total production of 222 million tonnes, data from Federation of Indian Mineral Industries shows.

Iron ore exporters in Orissa said the raids had left mine owners cautious and many had scaled down operations with the result, supplies from the region had shrunk just when China's demand was picking up.

Patnaik said the mines had not been asked to shut production.

Editing by Sanjeev Miglani;ruchira.singh@thomsonreuters.com