The government of the southern Indian state of Karnataka has approved the restart of mining operations at the Donimalai iron ore mines in the state by NMDC Limited, a state government official said on Wednesday, September 16.
The official said that the state cabinet had cleared the restart of mining operations at Donimalai by NMDC Limited subject to the latter clearing royalty dues of INR 5.0 billion and a new mining lease rental of INR 6.7 billion payable over a year.
A lease renewal application of NMDC Limited was pending with the state government since 2018 over the dispute of payment of higher royalties, forcing the miner to halt mining at the asset.
The Donimalai iron ore mines have a production capacity of seven million mt per annum.