Odisha to notify DMF structure in July

The steel and mines department of Odisha government has taken all necessary steps for creation of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) for peripheral development of mineral bearing areas and is expecting to issue notification in this regard in July.

"The rules to guide functioning of DMF have been framed and sent for the approval of the Chief Minister. I hope it will get approved by the end of this month and in July the process (to notify the DMF) will start", said Prafulla Kumar Mallick, state steel and mines minister.

Earlier, the state government had intimated the Centre that it would complete the process for creation of DMF by September this year.

According to the new Mines and Minerals- (Development & Regulation) Act, 2015, the state government shall create DMF for all mineral bearing districts where an amount equivalent to the royalty collected from mines will be deposited by the lessees. This money deposited in DMF would be utilised for the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining related work.

In Odisha, two of the state's biggest iron ore producing sectors- Joda in Keonjhar and Koira in Sundergarh district are expected to contribute Rs 2,800 crore to the DMF. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) is being mooted to implement various developmental projects utilising the funds contributed to the DMF. As per the provisions laid down by the new MMDR act, the foundation would be chaired by respective district collector with deputy directors of mines and officials of mining companies operating in the region as members.

While the formation of DMFs is likely to affect the revenues of miners and steel companies such as Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) who operate iron ore mines in the state, the flow of the fund will benefit the state government in terms of establishing social infrastructure in the mining areas. The funds will be utilised for overall development of the area whose ecology has been degraded by rampant mining. It would come up with CSR (corporate social responsibility) interventions in areas like education, health, roads and drinking water.

Various other mineral bearing states are readying plans for the proposed DMF. Andhra Pradesh has decided to notify DMF for 13 districts while in another neighbouring state, Chhattisgarh DMFs will be formed in all districts. In Gujarat, DMFs are being established in 32 districts whereas Jharkhand and Karnataka have decided to form DMFs in 24 and 30 districts respectively. All these states are likely to finalise DMF structure and constitute them by August this year.