Govt Wants Ban On Mineral Exports.

The Jharkhand government strongly advocated a blanket ban on export of raw materials, especially minerals, and re-allocation of vast stretch of unutilized land of Central public sector undertakings (CPSU).

State industry secretary A P Singh, who headed the deliberation on the second day of consultative meeting of the Planning Commission for the 12th Five Year Plan, stressed that the state government has been at receiving end because of export of minerals, including iron ore.

"In fact, representatives from all the five states Jharkhand, Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and Chhattisgarh supported our demand. I hope the Planning Commission will take up the matter seriously while preparing the final report and help in increasing the revenue of the states affected by export of mineral," said Singh.

Jharkhand also got support from other states on re-allocation of unused land of CPSU. "Almost all the public sector companies are sitting on large plot of lands which could have been utilized for other purpose. It could be transferred to the companies which are facing problem in land acquisition and there is inordinate delay in implementation of some mega projects," said Singh.

Some of the mega investments which have failed to see the light of the day due to problem in land acquisition are proposed greenfiled steel plants of Tata Steel, ArcelorMittal, Jindal Steel and Power Limited ( JSPL) and Jindal South West ( JSW). All the companies had signed memorandum of understanding with the Jharkhand government in 2005-06. The state government also advocated for reduction in interest rate of banks for micro, small and medium enterprises.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com