New Delhi: Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday hinted that he was open to reviewing the export duty of Rs 300 per tonne on the mineral.
"While the steel industry had supported the export duty, iron ore exporters have pleaded for reconsideration of duty. We shall consider all the facts and circumstances objectively and take suitable decisions," PTI quoted Chidambaram as saying.
He said the Finance Ministry has already gathered a lot of material but have asked the stake holders concerned to provide more materials if they wished to do so.
"In order to raise revenues and to conserve our natural resources, I propose to impose an export duty of Rs 300 per metric tonne on iron ore and concentrates and Rs 2,000 per metric tonne on exports of chrome ore and concentrates."
The steel industry had welcomed the proposed export duty saying it would go a long way to conserve much-needed iron ore required for the steel industry.
"By imposing the proposed duty the Finance Minister has tried to address our concerns and we are happy. We need to understand that iron ore needs to be conserved to fructify our expansion plans," Indian Steel Alliance chief Moosa Raza told PTI.
But the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), which is the apex body of mineral producers, described Chidambaram’s proposal as "a draconian one", saying it would deplete the coffers of ore producers.
(With agency inputs)
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