Mines and Geology Department recommends referring Ballari mining representations to Justice Dhulia committee

Fresh official correspondence from two Karnataka government departments has brought renewed attention to the representations relating to the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) lease and the categorisation of certain mining leases along the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border.

In a letter dated July 17, 2026, the director of the Mines and Geology Department informed the State government that a representation submitted by Ballari-based petitioners Tapal Ekambaram and Tapal Ganesh, forwarded by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, should be placed before the Justice Dhulia Committee, constituted by the Supreme Court to examine issues relating to OMC and the inter-State forest boundary dispute.

The department said it was not the competent authority to decide the issues raised in the representation and recommended that the matter be forwarded to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the Justice Dhulia Committee for an appropriate decision.

The representation seeks, among other things, a re-examination of the categorisation of Mining Lease (ML) No. 2527, eviction of the alleged overlap of OMC’s 68.5-hectare lease in Karnataka, restoration of village boundaries, and legal action against OMC in light of the CBI court judgment delivered earlier this year.

An earlier report submitted by the Chief Conservator of Forests, Ballari Circle, on July 14, to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Forest Conservation), also examined the complaints made by the two petitioners regarding alleged discrepancies in CEC Report No. 27 of 2025 and the recovery of ₹884 crore from OMC and its group companies for illegal extraction of 29 lakh tonnes of iron ore from Sandur cluster leases in Karnataka.

Referring to the CBI Court judgment dated May 6, 2025, the report noted that the trial court had observed that although permits were obtained for iron ore mining from the Andhra Pradesh lease, scientific analysis indicated that commercial-grade ore was not available there in the quantity claimed, and that mining had taken place in adjoining Karnataka leases. The judgment, as quoted in the report, stated that illegal mining valued at ₹884.13 crore had been identified during the investigation.

The Mines and Geology Department director’s communication assumes significance in view of the Supreme Court’s order dated February 24, 2026, directing the Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia Committee to examine issues relating to alleged encroachment of reserved forest land, overlapping of mining lease boundaries, the magnitude of illegal mining and the estimated loss to the public exchequer. With the matter tentatively listed before the Supreme Court on August 13, 2026, the department’s recommendation that the petitioners’ representations be forwarded to the Justice Dhulia Committee and the CEC could enable the competent authorities to place the representations before the bodies entrusted with examining these issues.