 "Tata Steel gets Odisha govt nod to resume four mines")
Four mining leases held by Tata Steel — Bamebari, Katamati, Joda East and Joda West — were suspended by the state government since November 15 after expiry of their statutory clearances. Later Tata Steel had contested the state government’s move in the Odisha HC.
The court, in its interim order, has allowed operations of the four mines till January 28, 2015, said an official in the know of the matter.
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Deepak Mohanty, director (mines) said, “We have passed order on Monday for allowing operations of four iron ore mines of Tata Steel after the HC order”.
The suspension of these four mines had affected Tata Steel’s operations, prompting the steel major to bank on imports of iron ore.
It may be noted that six mine leases of Tata Steel, including the above four mines, went off operations after the May 16 interim order of the Supreme Court. In its May 16 interim order, the apex court had called for suspending operations of 26 iron ore and manganese mines in Odisha awaiting second and subsequent renewal that were operating under the provisions of deemed extension of lease as allowed under Mineral Concession Rules (MCR).
The top court held that such mines cannot continue operations until the state government passes express orders under Section 8 (3) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
Complying with the court order, the state government in June passed express orders in respect of eight mines — four held by Tata Steel, three mines of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) — Bolani, Barsuan and Kalta and the Kurmitar Pahar lease of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).
However, similar orders were pending for the balance 18 mines. The mines include the ones held by Tata Steel, KJS Ahluwalia, KN Ram, Kalinga Mining Corporation, Kaypee Enterprises, Mideast Integrated Steel, Aryan Mining & Trading Corporation Ltd, Bonai Industrial Company Ltd, B I Company Ltd, Feegrade & Company Ltd, OMM Pvt Ltd, state run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Rungta Mines Ltd. The express order came with a rider — miners have to obtain all the necessary statutory clearances within three months. The state government allowed two extensions to the miners to get the clearances. While SAIL obtained the approvals within the stipulated time, other miners were unable to get the clearances.
The state government had finally asked miners to conform to the November 15 timeline for clearances since it marked six months from the interim order of the Supreme Court.