Imports of steel-grade limestone have been rising from Dubai and the giant steel makers such as Tisco, Sail etc favour the imported mineral largely due to money considerations. Sources say that the quality of the imported limestone is not as good as of the same being mined at Sonu in the Jaisalmer district, which borders Pakistan.

``We have urged the railways to offer us attractive concessions in the freight so as to compete with the imported limestone,'' says chairman and managing director KK Saxena of Rajasthan State Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.

Even the chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, has sent a letter to the railways minister, Mamta Banerjee, to take immediate note of thedeveloping dangerous situation.

In the past the railways used to give station-to-station concession in the freight on the transportation of limestone from Jaisalmer to the Sail plants and Tisco. In totality the freight concessions were as high as 18 per cent, says Saxena.

For some strange reasons the station-to-station concessions have now been withdrawn by the railways and the general managers have been given powers to give the maximum 10 per cent concession in the freight.

The 10 per cent concession is even related to the volumes and in practice the relief given is much less, sources point out.

Both RSMM and RSMDC sell roughly 10 lakh tonnes of limestone to the steel makers in a year but due to long distances, the impact of the freight is much more. For the movement of limestone the railways had laid a special track connecting Jaisalmer with Jodhpur making huge investments. If no concessions are forthcoming the entire investment of the railways will go waste, it is feared. For their own benefit, therailways should allow concessions so that the movement continues. This is the point which has been stressed in his letter by the chief minister to Mamta Banerjee.

``We hope the union railways minister will be realistic in looking into the matter and allow the past concessions in the freight,'' says Saxena.

Saxena says that his corporation had also invested large sums of money to develop the mines at Sonu looking to the prospects but with the rising imports, the production has had to be curtailed. RSMM is selling some steel-grade limestone to Tisco under a long-term contract and the prospects are that the same may not be renewed if the freight concessions are not allowed forthwith. ``We have also taken steps to reduce our operating cost to a large extent,'' says managing director of RSMM, KS Money.

RSMDC alone sells limestone worth Rs 15 crore in a year to Sail and the sales could be increased substantially as the steel industry is now looking up. The selling price of limestone is put at around Rs 1500per tonne which includes Rs 1200 per tonne as the freight.

Compared to this the imported limestone is costing about Rs 1150 per tonne. Clearly the difference in the cost is about Rs 300 per tonne. Saxena says that it is thus obvious that why both the Sail and Tisco should pay more for using the indigenously produced limestone. ``We are finding it extremely difficult to push our mineral,'' says he.

The same is the problem being faced in the case of the movement of gypsum by RSMM. The centre should give concessions to the local industry for the sake of employment alone.

The limestone mining at Sonu has changed the economy of the Jaisalmer district where there had been no employment opportunities. With the canal waters of the Indira Gandhi Canal project now having reached the Jaisalmer district, its economy is poised to grow further.

And from the foreign tourists angle, the place is attracting greater attention now. Apart from the mineral, the district is known to have huge deposits of natural gas andoil. ONGC is already at the job and some lasting reserves have been located in the district.