Supreme Court on global tenders for Kolar gold mines

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, approved the central government's plan to float global tenders to revive the famous Kolar gold mines. This is 12 years after these gold mines were closed down. Bench led by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir recorded a 2006 cabinet decision to invite bids to run the mines, and  further to take appropriate subsequent steps.

A legal long haul began after BGML employees and others went to court against the closure. In 2009, a single judge bench of Karnataka High Court permitted the government to seek out "only global miners" to revive the mines. However, in August 2010, a division bench of the court directed that no global tenders should be floated, and asked the Centre to explore all possibilities to revive KGF on its own.

The matter travelled to the Supreme Court, where Centre said that it supported the closure of the mines, and that the cabinet had taken a decision to float a global tender. The court admitted the petition in April 2011 and sought replies from other parties, including the BGML workers' co-operative.

The Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), which were nationalised in 1956 and handed over to state-run Bharat Gold Mines Ltd. (BGML), were shut down in 2001 after its operations turned uneconomical at lower price levels.