The apex court forest bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam said the proceeds from the sale of iron ore extracted from category C mines would stand forfeited and would go to special purpose vehicle constituted for the reclamation and rehabilitation of the mining area devastated by illegal mining.
The court confirmed its earlier order permitting mining activities in 18 category A mines. The court, however, put an embargo on the mining activities in seven mining leases falling in Karnatata-Andhra Pradesh border areas.
The court said the mining activities, in seven mining leases would remain suspended till the demarcation of boundaries between the two states is cleared.
The court vacated its earlier order restraining issuance of fresh mining leases.
The order pronounced by Justice Ranjan Gogoi accepted a number of recommendations of the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on green matters given in its various reports from 2011 to February 2013.
The CEC divided mines in the area in three categories, A, B and C depending on the extent of mining in the districts.
Bangalore, Apr 18: The Supreme Court has allowed nine more iron ore mines to resume production in Karnataka, a small fraction of the total, but exports from the country's second-biggest supplier of the steel-making raw material remain on hold for now.
The court also cancelled mining leases for all illegal mines in the state, Judge Aftab Alam said on Thursday.
The ruling is the latest step back from a total ban on mining in the state that was put in force in 2011, because of environmental concerns.
In September, the Supreme Court allowed 18 mines in Karnataka to resume operations, while state-run miner NMDC was cleared to produce one million tonnes a month in August 2011.
India used to produce about 200 million tonnes a year of iron ore and exported about half of that, mostly to top buyer China. But a clampdown on illegal mining, and exports from Karnataka, have slashed both output and shipments.
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