A small news item on Bharat Sarkaar reducing export duty on iron ore prompted me to inform my readers of the sheer senselessness of iron ore exports, as seen on the Konkan Coast.
I was looking out of the airplane window. The plane was about to land in Goa, when it suddenly decided to take a wide sweep over the sea. And so I saw them all – all the iron ore bulk carriers, over a dozen of them, waiting to load up at Mormugao Port. Yes, the hills of Goa, which could be great real estate, are being exported – while nothing is being imported. Not even tourists: Here is a lament that the port does not even have a proper jetty for cruise liners.
Just across the southern tip of Goa is Karwar, with its long beach, its deep port, its verdant hills and a few little green islands dotting the sea that make it probably one of the most beautiful places on Earth. But the small town is a shambles. And all that the deep-water port is engaged in is exports of iron ore. Thousands of trucks carrying the hills of the Western Ghats travel to the port every day, overladen with this cheap ore, thereby ruining the highway. Karwar could be a free port – like Hong Kong. Now, she exports soil and imports nothing. This is “Foreign Trade Policy.” Oh, how I yearn for a policy-less government.
While Karwar is the northern tip of the Karnataka coast, Mangalore is its southern tip, close to Kerala. Mangalore too has a deep-water port, and there too all the action revolves around the export of iron ore. Nothing else. No imports. And certainly no tourists. The iron ore comes from the State-owned mining firm Kudremukh. I visited their mines often. They lie deep in a national park! Many hills of the national park have been gouged out and exported. The mining town looks poor. It could do with a fresh coat of paint.
I have often traveled between Mangalore and Goa, by car and also by train. There are plenty of other locations on this part of the Konkan where mighty free trading cities can be built – like Honavar. The entire belt is seriously underpopulated – and there is lots and lots of totally unowned land lying waste. This could be developed. With unilateral free trade, this region could become the new economic engine not only of this poor country, but also the world, now reeling under recession. We need to shift the focus from exports to imports.
Kamal Nutt’s Foreign Trade Policy Must Go!
Now for the bad news, which says that this nutt's policy is to continue forever.
India needs more loud shouts for free international trade.
Was there ever an Indian God of Commerce? There is one now: Sarkar-dev.
ReplyDeletewe should also think from miners prospects, many people involved in this core business and their live depends on this. If at all you want to see good environments near by mining area, mines owners should be pressurised to follow strict regulation pertaining to environment and community development.you so called environmentalist do not think of family depends on this business, otherwise KIOCL would not have been stopped. you only want to be famous in todays world of internet and electronic media which is rediculous.
ReplyDelete