Odisha to defend move to auction mines in HC

The state government will file an affidavit in the Orissa High Court (HC) on Wednesday defending its decision to auction mining leases awaiting second and subsequent renewal.

"In our affidavit, we are not going to challenge the MMDR Amendment Ordinance promulgated by the central government. Our contention is that the state government has the powers to examine and decide on mining lease cases that are awaiting second and subsequent renewal. We will also raise the argument that in some way or the other, such leaseholders have violated the terms and conditions of lease grant order. The affidavit will be filed on Wednesday," said a senior official at steel & mines department.

The HC has fixed February 4 as the date of hearing on the case. On January 16, the HC after hearing the petition filed by some miners, whose mines had been put up for auction by the state government, had restrained the government from going ahead with its resolution to auction the mines. The state government had come out with a resolution on January 8 to enforce its Cabinet decision to offer all mining leases except coal through the bidding route.

The decision presumably hurt the interest of 18 iron and manganese ore mines which were awaiting express orders of the government to restart operations.

A Supreme Court order in May last year triggered temporary closure of 26 iron ore and manganese mines that were waiting second and subsequent renewal of their lease terms and were operating under the provisions of 'deemed extension'. The top court declared operations of such mines illegal unless the state government issued express orders under Section 8 (3) of the erstwhile Mines and Minerals - Development & Regulation (MMDR) Act, 1957. Complying with the apex court's interim order, the state government passed express orders for eight mines, including four held by Tata Steel, three of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and one of state run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). But instead of passing similar orders for the balance 18 mines, the government decided to auction them.

After the Cabinet decision, the state government came out with a resolution dated January 8 and a notification in the Gazette a day later, to allocate mineral resources through a transparent bidding process.

The proposed auction will not apply to those leases that have already been issued grant orders and are awaiting execution of lease deed by the state government provided all such lease deeds are executed within the specified period.