sentences:  Ombudsman's report on mining in Karnataka state found that the promoters of privately owned mining companies in the Bellary region paid off politicians, and then joined politics themselves, rising to positions in the Karnataka state government.These mining businessmen-turned-politicians exerted so much influence over the local officials that the Indian media began describing Bellary as a "new republic".Despite the availability of minerals in large quantities, this district is considered to be an industrially backward district.