Sponge iron industries are killing fields

The sponge iron industry is growing fast and polluting alarmingly. K Radhika in Chhattisgarh and Maureen Nandini Mitra in Jharkhand and Orissa …

Smokestacks lightening?

Emissions are bound to increase. The power sector improves, but others will spew more, especially iron and steel

Saranda for sale?

First by diluting it and then by delaying it, the Jharkhand government ensures slow death of a plan meant to safeguard Saranda and its wildlife …

POSCO villages resist land acquisition by Odisha government

Despite protests administration demolishes 37 betel gardens on the forestland. Land acquistion put on hold till June 17

‘Green’ steel, cement for clean energy? Not yet there, says IEA; here’s why

In order to achieve net zero emission target, battery manufacturing capacity for electronic vehicles has to multiply by six times the present …

The wasteland

Bellary has lost 45 per cent of its forest cover to iron ore mining, says the CEC report

Picture imperfect

Fertile and picturesque, that is what Bellary was before companies started indiscriminate mining for iron ore  

Coal quandary

In a sweeping pronouncement, the Supreme Court has termed all the 218 coal blocks allocated since 1993 illegal. This has raised a fundamental …

Theirs to mine?

This is the question angry and beleaguered tribals in Orissa and Jharkhand are asking, as mining companies set up shop in the midst of their land …

Need or greed?

The Union Ministry of Finance has recently alleged that green clearances are holding up the country’s infrastructure development and growth.…

1,620.361 ha of discontent

Special economic zones and sit-ins. Mega-projects and marches. Public-private partnerships and pitched battles. Precociously, because they are …

How Bellary was laid waste

Karnataka’s Lokayukta Santosh Hegde’s report is a sordid story on the rise of India’s mining poster boy, Bellary. The …

Stained steel

The iron and steel sector is regarded as the core of Indian economy. Its players are big and powerful. It is extremely resource-intensive and …

Chhattisgarh's Industrial Jungle

Chhattisgarh is set to become the largest producer of thermal power, cement and sponge iron. The push is on to install 77 per cent of India's …

Sponge iron’s dirty growth

In the years to come, India's expanding steel production will be largely driven by sponge iron. But its manufacturing process, based on coal, is …