Odisha misses mining revenue target for 2012-13

Mining revenue, the single biggest contributor to the state's non-tax revenue segment stood at Rs 5,353 cr in 2012-13 as against a target of Rs 5,700 cr

The Odisha government has missed its mining revenue target for 2012-13 by 6.5% though there is growth of 16.71% over 2011-12.

Mining revenue, the single biggest contributor to the state's non-tax revenue segment stood at Rs 5,352.94 crore in 2012-13 as against a target of Rs 5,700 crore. In 2011-12, the mining revenue collection was Rs 4,586.64 crore.

"We should not treat it (mining revenue collection) as a miss in target. Definitely, the target was an ambitious one. As such, we have not resorted to any clampdown on any mine in the last fiscal. Besides, the ongoing probe by the Shah panel has been mostly on irregularities committed in the past and as such it has not impacted any operational mine”, said mines director Deepak Mohanty.

For March 2013 alone, the actual collection at Rs 368.21 crore is an achievement of only 55.28% of the targeted Rs 666 crore.

Throughout 2012-13, the mining department has consistently fallen short of monthly and quarterly targets set for mining revenue collection.

Mining revenue collection was targeted at Rs 5,700 crore for this fiscal by the chief secretary, 35.71% higher than the budgetary estimate of Rs 4200 crore after the segment contributed a whopping Rs 4,517.10 crore to the state exchequer in 2011-12.

To boost mining revenue collection, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been demanding introduction of Mineral Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) on windfall gains made by miners. The state expected to garner additional revenue of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore every year from the mining sector if the Centre introduces the tax.