The recent decision of the Supreme Court lifting the ban on iron ore mining in Goa has implications beyond this state as the mining sector's woes have added to the economic slowdown along with low growth in manufacturing. Over the past two years, due to the ban on iron ore mining in Goa, Karnataka and Odisha, the iron ore export fell by 85 per cent or 100 MT and as a result, India, once the world?s third-largest exporter, turned a net importer of the commodity in recent times. The closure of iron ore mines considerably impacted the sale of new mining equipment, crushers and screens and heavy duty trucks and tippers resulting in idling of a vast pool of such equipment. Most of the equipment categories - be it mobile cranes, foundation equipment, concrete equipment, road equipment - that are idling due to lack of projects is a major concern.

So, on a macro perspective, this order indeed comes as a ray of hope; and the lifting of the ban is expected to help trigger a gradual recovery in the iron ore mining sector which augurs well for the mining equipment too. Since the closure of iron ore mines the sale of tracked crushers has been badly hit and this has had its impact on most of the global crushing and screening equipment OEMs. The sale of excavators, high-capacity wheel loaders, and heavy-duty tippers were also badly hit due to the closure of mines. So the lifting of the ban is sure to bring some positivity back. However, as per the industry sources it may take some time for the benefits to trickle down as many people have to restructure loans which were not serviceable due to lack of work, and once all the idle machinery are allocated a clear picture of the fresh demand will emerge.

However, from a holistic point of view, what the industry is looking forward is lifting of the ban on the entire iron ore belt consisting of Goa, Bellary and Barbil, which put together may bring considerable opportunities for the CE sector; and on the other hand, opening up and revival of coal mining which is so critical for the growth of the entire economy. Even the clearance given by the Project Monitoring Group for power projects worth Rs three lakh crore may fail to bring the positivity back to the CE Sector, unless there is consistent supply of coal for these projects. Today, the non-availability of coal is a major issue. Over the last three years coal mining per se has not grown as it was expected; and imports have grown over 180 MT per annum (pa). So, it is a necessity that the government clears the restriction on coal mining as we need to mine a minimum of 150 MT coal pa to meet the surging demand, which in turn will bring the demand graph on track.

Elections round the corner; everyone is waiting anxiously for a clear mandate - that the government swearing in, should have a clear majority so that a stable government can push forward the development agenda. But as recent history has taught, it is not just a ?stable? government that is the need of the hour (was not the Congress government stable, that too for a decade?); but what we need is leadership which is strong on vision and stronger on execution, and the benefit of which may ?trickle down? to various strata of the socioeconomic, political and business fabric of the country.