GoM rejects cap on iron ore exports
New Delhi: The new mining policy has been cleared by a group of ministers (GoM) that seeks to attract foreign direct investment of $2 billion annually, and rejected a demand for capping iron ore exports.

Now the policy would be placed before the Union Cabinet for its approval sources said.

The GoM also refused to endorse the demand of mineral-rich states Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa on value-addition, and pointed out that the entire country would have to be considered as a single entity.

Besides targeting at least $2 billion FDI annually, the policy will be able to generate additional employment for five lakh people in the next 5 years, Minister of State for Mines T Subbarami Reddy had said yesterday.
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Freeze SEZ clearances: Joshi panel
New Delhi: A Parliamentary Committee headed by parliamentarian Murli Manohar Joshi has sought an immediate freeze on fresh SEZ clearances till the law is changed to protect farmers and other stakeholders. The committee has hit out at the government for hastily approving hundreds of Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

"No further SEZs should be notified till the SEZ Act and rules have been amended to meet public concerns," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on SEZs said in its report submitted to Rajya Sabha chairman B S Shekhawat today.

The committee said undue haste in approving SEZs and their proliferation has contributed to the resistance against the policy.

Demanding a ceiling of 2,000 hectares on multi-product SEZs coming up on cultivable land, Joshi warned the country would plunge into a famine-like situation if cultivable land is indiscriminately given to SEZs.
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