Mines Ministry warns of looming India iron-ore supply crisis

India’s Mines Ministry has warned iron-ore bearing provinces of a looming "crisis" by 2020, if they do not focus on the "efficient handling of mining leases" in their respective geographies. In an advisory to key provinces rich in iron-ore resources like Odisha, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh, the Ministry said that unless the pace of exploration was stepped up, along with the renewal of expired mining leases, the production of the raw material will start to decline, potentially leading to a full-scale crisis by the turn of the decade.