No takers for low-grade iron ore at e-auctions in two Karnataka districts

Bengaluru : The problems of iron ore miners in two districts of Karnataka continue even after the commencement of e-auctions. For, the miners in Chitradurga and Tumkur, which mainly produce low-grade iron ore fines, find no takers for their produce at the auctions.

Online auctions of iron ore commenced in Karnataka from September 14, following a Supreme Court direction earlier that month. The apex court had, on September 2, granted permission for the sale through an e-auction of about 25 million metric tonne of the existing stock of iron ore in the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur. Low-grade iron ore forms one-third of this stock in the two southeastern districts of Chitradurga and Tumkur