Odisha to send lease cancellation notice for 18 iron ore mines

The Odisha government will send notices to leaseholders of 18 iron ore mines including two mines of Tata Steel, which were shut down by a Supreme Court order in May this year, asking them to reply within a month regarding why their lease renewal application should not be rejected.

“At least seven notices with reference to Section 26 (1) of Mineral Concession Rules (refusal of lease renewal) were sent today, the rest notices will be sent in next one or two days before the deadline of November 15,” said a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The notices will be sent to large mining groups such as Rungta and A K Ahluwalia along with Tata Steel.

The government is bound to take a stance regarding the renewal of the mining leases in view of the apex court’s May 16 order, which had directed it to expedite the 26 pending applications within six months while ordering halt to mining operation at these mines running under provisional clearance known as ‘deemed extension’. Though the state government has allowed iron ore production at eight of the closed 26 mines on May 29 through an express order, it was sitting over the applications of the rest mines since.

“Sending refusal notices and expediting lease renewal applications are not the same, but the state government did this to intimate the SC that it is serious about its judgement in order to avoid contempt proceedings. It is a tactic to delay the decision making process,” said B K Mohanty, advisor to Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists (SGAT), a mining lobby body, which has pitched for early disposal of the pending 18 applications.

“Earlier also the state government wanted to delay the process by referring the matter to Advocate General when the post was lying vacant and in spite of having a law department to deal with these issues,” he added.

A state government official said, the lease renewal applications could not be processed in due time as the short staffed steel and mines department and the mines directorate were busy compiling information for the Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) which was conducting a probe into cases of illegal mining in Odisha.

The top court had banned mining operation in 26 iron ore and manganese mines citing that these mines cannot be allowed to operate for years together under deemed lease extension provision of Mineral Concession Rules. All these mines were awaiting second and further lease renewals. Stating that second and subsequent lease renewals are not a matter of right for the miners unlike the first renewal, the court had asked the state government either to issue express order allowing these mines to run under special provisions or refuse their applications with valid reasons. Deemed extension provision allows miners to carry on with mining activities without a valid lease, if their application sent one year before the lease expiry has not been processed by the government.