RS concerned overt depleting iron ore reserves

New Delhi, May 16 (UNI) Rajya Sabha today expressed its concern over depleting iron ore reserves in India which were expected to last just 23 more years and wanted to put a halt on indiscriminate export of this precious raw material.

The Special Mention on the matter was raised by senior Congress MP Motilal Vohra who drew the attention of the House saying the year 2030 was just 23 years away which was not a long period for the country. India had 25 billion tonnes of ore and could extract 7.24 billion tonnes annually. During the last five years, the ore export had doubled and the domestic consumption had increased by one and a half times.

He said China possessed 18 billion tonnes of iron ore but to conserve its own resource, it was importing ore from India. Its ore imports from India in 2005 were seven crore tonnes.

The steel production in the country was static and the multi nationals were becoming rich using Indian raw material and China was the biggest producer of steel and its annual production stood at 34 crore tonnes while Indian steel production was 4.2 crore tonnes. The ore extraction from public sector was static at 5.5 crore tonnes during the last one decade but the private sector production had shot up thrice to 8.5 crore tonnes. Major private sector exports were to China.

He suggested that India should increase its domestic steel production and save valuable ore resources for future and it would not be in a position to import iron ore paying through the nose after 2030, Mr Vohra cautioned. His mentions won appreciation from all sections of the House.

Mr Santosh Bagrodia, Congress, expressed concern about the need to check the effects of global warming which was making its presence felt while Mr Urkhao Gwra Brahma, Independent, demanded separate administrative set up for Central Institute of Technology at Kokhrajhar, Asom. Mr Surendra Lath, BJP, demanded inclusion of Sickle cell disease prevailing in western Orissa in the National Health Policy.

Mr Suman Pathak, CPI-M, demanded quality repair works to be undertaken by National Highways linking Darjeeling to help tourist inflow. Mr Vijay Darda, Congress, stressed the need for comprehensive insurance coverage for poor and marginal farmers to check suicides in six Vidarbha districts. Dr Gyan Prakash Pilania, BJP, spoke of the need to bridge the gap between rural and urban India whereas Mrs Prama Cariappa congress, regretted that the construction of rail line to link Kushalnagar in Kodagu district of Karnataka had not begun.

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