Data from the Department of Mines and Geology (DMG), Karnataka shows mining firms sold 45,544,000 tonne iron ore out of 77,268,000 t earmarked for e-auction as on May 18 in the state.

Of the total sale amount of Rs 10,496 crore, the DMG gets Rs 979.26 crore as royalty, Forest Department gets Rs 978.26 crore as Forest Development Tax while Rs 501.52 crore goes to Commercial Taxes Department in the form of sales tax.

Also, 317,24,000 t iron ore remains in stock yards of the mining firms in the three districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur. After the Supreme Court lifted ban on Category A mines, a total of 12 mining firms resumed mining operations in November 2012.

In the last six months, a total of 1,288,000 t iron ore, extracted by the Category A mines, was sold through e-auction.

Of the operating Category A mines, 180,000 t iron ore was mined by SMIORE (ML 2580), 404,000 t by B Kumara Gouda and 152,000 t ore was mined by VESCO.

These include already extracted iron ore as well as fresh extractions in Category A mines over the last six months from Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts.