Export duty on low-grade iron ore may hit mining operations in Goa, claim stakeholders

Panaji: The Goa Mineral Ore Exporters' Association (GMOEA) wrote a letter to the Centre on Tuesday expressing concerns over reports suggesting the imposition of export duties on low-grade iron ore. In a formal communication to Piyush Goyal, Secretary to the Ministry of Mines, the association urged the government not to consider any such move, claiming that it could severely disrupt mining operations in Goa, where iron ore is predominantly of low grade (below 58 per cent Fe). The representation by GMOEA, a representative body of key stakeholders of the Goan mining sector, underscored the rationale for export duty exemptions of low-grade iron ore. GMOEA Joint Secretary Glenn Kalavampara said Goan iron ore, essentially being of lower grade & higher impurities, has historically been export-oriented due to limited scope for domestic consumption.

Ad hoc and frequent fiscal interventions, such as imposition of export duties on low-grade iron ore (below 58 per cent Fe), create significant uncertainties and affect government revenues for the Konkan region with constrained market access and limited price realisation for such material.