Mines minister Sis Ram Ola has ignored his own officials and the advice of the Karnataka government and overlooked the Cabinet secretary by intensely pitching for reserving 1,503 hectares of the prized Ramandurg iron ore mines in the state for PSU Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC). MMTC falls under the purview of the commerce ministry.

Records available with The Indian Express show that Shantanu Consul, who till March 22 was mines secretary, held that the proposed notification might not be legally tenable, but was overruled by Ola at every stage. Finally, he was shunted to the Department of Water Resources as secretary.

But even as the order to reserve the Ramandurg mines in Bellary district remains to be notified, state-owned mining giant National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has served a legal notice on the mines ministry, stating that this would amount to contempt of court and violation of the model code of conduct. Repeated attempts to meet Ola failed. He did not answer the phone calls either. Consul, when contacted, refused to comment.

In March 2003, the Karnataka government had invited expressions of interest for mining lease from prospective players. But several applicants including NMDC had applied for mining leases even before the EoI was floated. NMDC, which had way back in 1971-73 carried out detailed exploration and submitted a feasibility report to Karnataka, filed a petition in the High Court, which in April 2003 ordered the state not to grant the lease to any third party.

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