Gadchiroli: Centre lets Maharashtra keep about 2,000 hectares for iron-ore mines
The approval adds to mining around Surjagarh, where expansion has been questioned over forest loss and a tiger corridor.
The Union Ministry of Mines has allowed Maharashtra to keep roughly 2,000 hectares in the forested Gadchiroli district aside for iron-ore mines, Hindustan Times reported on 10 November.
Such reservations usually set land aside for mining by a government-owned company. The report did not say which areas are covered or who will mine them.
The background
Gadchiroli, in eastern Maharashtra, is mostly forest and has large iron-ore deposits. Mining there has grown as Maoist violence has declined.
The biggest operation is Lloyds Metals and Energy’s Surjagarh mine. In 2025, a Union government forest panel approved clearing about 937 hectares of forest for an iron-ore processing plant there, a project that involves felling about 1.23 lakh trees, Construction World reported. Another expert panel recommended letting the mine raise output from 10 million tonnes a year to 26 million tonnes.
The expansion has been questioned. A Mongabay report in June 2026 said part of the project area falls within the Tadoba–Indravati tiger corridor.
What’s next
The State government has not yet said when or how the newly reserved land will be offered for mining.
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