Sesa,Sterlite shares hit as Goa halts mining

Goa temporarily halted iron ore mining from Tuesday to check if operations were legal,a move that is expected to further dent exports from India and support flagging global prices

Goa temporarily halted iron ore mining from Tuesday to check if operations were legal,a move that is expected to further dent exports from India and support flagging global prices.

Sesa Goa,which gets most of its iron ore from Goa,said business would suffer but it hoped the halt would be short-lived. Its shares fell as much as 7 per cent on Tuesday.

Shares of non-ferrous metals producer Sterlite,which is set to merge with Sesa Goa to create Sesa Sterlite the eventual umbrella unit for other subsidiaries of the Vedanta Group,were 4.6 per cent lower at Rs 94.

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Indias iron ore exports,which mainly head to China,have already halved because of government taxes aimed at keeping output for the domestic steel industry and efforts to stop illegal mining.

Tumbling global prices,down a third since July and now near levels last seen in 2009,have also deterred exports.

The move by Goa to suspend mining activities came after an expert panel formed by the central government found serious illegalities and irregularities in mining operations.

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