Fimi wants uniform freight rates

Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi) wants the railways to charge uniform freight rates on iron ore.

It is learnt that the the railways increased freight nine times between February 2010 and March 2012. Today, it is about four times the domestic freight for iron ore (Rs 2,600 a tonne).

The high freight rate together with high export duty made export of iron ore unviable, Fimi argues. The industry body wants the government to reduce export duty on the commodity.

However, steel companies does not want the government to reduce export duty on ore as they are reeling under a severe shortage of iron ore, following the suspension of mining in Goa and Karnataka and the imposition of a cap on mining in Odisha.

The ministry of finance imposed five per cent duty on the export of iron ore fines in 2009-10. This was raised to 20 per cent in 2010-11 and 30 per cent in 2011-12.

Between Apr-Nov 2012, iron ore exports declined 62.3 per cent to 15 million tonne (mn t), against 39 mt in the year-ago period. In a pre-Budget memorandum to the ministries of finance and railways, Fimi has urged for a cut in export duty and railway freight to ensure the industry recorded high exports.