look news india
Mumbai: Sponge iron manufacturers have demanded imposition of export duty on export of low-grade iron ore from the country. This demand has come to reduce the shortage and high prices of iron ore domestically.
India is the second largest producer of crude steel. And iron ore is a major raw material for steel production.
An official of the Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association said, since there is a shortage of iron ore, the government has been requested to impose export duty.
There are about 335 units of sponge iron in the country and India is the largest producer of sponge iron in the world. The annual production of sponge iron in India is five crore tonnes which is used as raw material by most of the secondary steel makers.
Iron ore exports in the first nine months of the current financial year stood at 32.22 million tonnes, compared to 9.5 lakh tonnes in the same period of the last financial year. Most of India's iron ore exports are to China.
Iron ore exports have increased after the government abolished the export tax on iron ore in November 2022. On the other hand, the demand for export tax has been opposed by the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries. Only low grade iron ore is exported from India, which is not consumed much in India.
