Govt proposes windfall tax on miners

STAFF WRITER 16:18 HRS IST

New Delhi, June 7 (PTI) On the heels of Australia announcing 40 per cent tax on bumper profits of miners, India said it proposes a similar windfall tax on iron ore.

"We have already moved the Finance Ministry...we are for it (windfall tax). We have sent the letter," Mines Minister B K Handique told PTI in an interview.

He said the move, initiated after Australia announced such a tax on miners in his country, would not only deliver "justice" to locals in mining areas through corporate social responsibility (CSR) but would check rampant illegal mining.

Australia proposed the tax in May after prices of iron ore and other commodities jumped on demand from countries like China. Windfall tax is levied by several countries on some super profit making industries.