New Delhi, Oct. 30 -- Putting a cap on iron ore mining in Odisha will impede India's growth trajectory and sabotage the dream of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, the Central and Odisha governments told the Supreme Court which is examining a petition on imposing a cap on extraction, similar to the ones it imposed in Karnataka and Goa in the interest of intergenerational equity in preserving natural resources. Telling the court that things have changed since 2013, when the cap on iron ore mining was imposed in Karnataka and subsequently in Goa, two Union ministries - Ministry of Mines (MoM) and Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) - claimed stricter regulatory checks and legal safeguards being put in place to avoid illegal mining flagged by the court in Karnataka, that was in violation of the prevailing laws. The Centre argued any capping on iron ore or manganese extraction will impact the steel production. It said, "India is currently on a high growth trajectory . To fully harness its growth potential the country requires creation of infrastructure such as airports,railways, bridges, ports, real estate, manufacturing, etc." In a separate affidavit, the Odisha government said, "Capping of iron ore mining would lead to a substantial deficit of production of steel and other metals." The affidavits came in response to a petition filed by non profit organisation Common Cause, which has advocated a cap on mining in Odisha....