After IT czars, Karnataka is now churning out a new breed of millionaires mining magnates, who have turned the towns of Hospet and Sandur in one of the most backward districts in the nation, Bellary, into a Mecca of high-end luxury cars, choppers and executive jets.
Ever since the Centre permitted the private sector to export iron ore, major mining firms - many family-owned in iron ore-rich Bellary have witnessed their topline zoom, year after year. With iron ore prices rising from a mere $17 per tonne in 2000 to $55 per tonne in 2006, the mining firms never had it so good.
For instance, Minerals Sales Pvt Ltd of the Baldota group, the second largest private iron ore exporter, clocked revenues close to Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) in the last fiscal.
Santosh Kumar Modi's Bellary Iron Ore Pvt Ltd and V G Mines Pvt Ltd earned revenues of Rs 560 crore (Rs 5 .60 billion). Others like Sajjab Wahab's Kariganur Minerals Mining Industry recorded Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) in revenue.
Prakash V Ghotage, who owns the Rs 800-crore (Rs 8 billion)
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