Odisha govt panel to vet cases of 70 mines soon

Union Mines Ministry has instructed states to expedite pending cases of extension of mining leases

An inter-departmental committee of Odisha government would shortly vet cases of around 70 mines awaiting extension of lease validity.

"The inter-departmental committee is expected to meet soon to take a call on extension of lease validity. Based on the committee's recommendations, the government will decide on extending the lease validity," said a senior government official.

The Union Mines Ministry has instructed all mineral bearing states to expedite the pending cases of extension of mining leases.

The state government has already passed orders to extend validity of 52 mines after the enactment of Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) MMDR Act, 2015.

The amended MMDR Act, 2015 has allowed extension of captive leases till 2030 and those of non-captive mines till 2020. The state government has realised around Rs 1200 crore by way of stamp duty levies from such mines.

At the time of issue of orders for extensions, the government had stipulated certain conditions for compliance by the lessees. The lessees had to sign supplementary lease deeds within three months of the order.

Other conditions to operate mines include payment of NPV (net present value) dues and complying with the Supreme Court order to be pronounced in the final disposal of the cases relating to these mines as well as pending orders on recommendations of the MB Shah Commission of enquiry and the central empowered committee (CEC) on illegal mining in the state.

An interim order of the Supreme Court in May 2014 had triggered shutdown of 26 iron and manganese ore mines in the state. The top court had held that such leases cannot operate under the provisions of 'deemed extension' under Mineral Concession Rules (MCR), 1960 unless the government passed express orders for their operations.

Due to the temporary closure of these mines, iron ore production in Odisha shrank 39 per cent to 47.35 million tonne in 2014-15 from 77.84 million tonne in 2014-15.