Varied railway freight duties, coupled with high export taxes and the continued mining ban in India's major iron ore areas will all the more affect the country's exports of the key steelmaking ingredient in 2012 to 2013.

At the present situation, "export of iron ore is no longer a viable proposition," R K Sharma, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi), said in the Business Standard.

India's iron export receipts had already fallen by as much as 38.5 per cent to 60 million tonnes during 2011 to 2012, and this is seen to further slide by 16 per cent to 25 per cent to 45 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes in 2012 to 2013.

Exports from India's three major iron ore hubs, Karnataka, Odisha and Goa, have been suspended due to a massive crackdown on illegal mining activities.

The high freight duties imposed by the railway operators, at Rs 2,430 a tonne on iron ore meant for export and Rs 700 a tonne for domestic freight, likewise pose a challenge for the federation.

In December 2011, the Indian government increased to 30 per cent the export duty on iron ore from 20 per cent.

Further exacerbating the situation is the price of iron ore in the global markets which experienced a slump of 22 per cent to $138 a tonne in April.