Orissa laggard in submitting mineral concession report

Orissa still retains high pendency position among different mineral bearing states in terms of submission of quarterly reports of mineral concession despite being pulled up by the Union ministry of mines on earlier occasions.

In case of Orissa, the quarterly reports pertaining to disposal of applications for mineral concessions, lease execution status and renewal of concessions have been pending from the October-December quarter of 2009-10.

The combined pendency for reconnaissance permit (RP), prospecting license (PL) and mining license (ML) for the state stands at a high of 3462. While 26 RP applications are pending, the number of PL and ML pending are 1823 and 1613 respectively. Also, 176 mining lease applications are pending for renewal.

Manoj Ahuja, secretary (steel & mines), Orissa government was not available for comments on the matter.

Besides Orissa, the pendency rate has been particularly high for Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Karnataka.

The Union ministry of mines, which has been laying great emphasis on the need for timely submission of quarterly reports by the state governments, has observed that most of the states are not sending reports within the prescribed time-frame. The ministry has been issuing letters to state governments for the past two years, seeking timely submission of quarterly reports. The Union mines secretary has also written to the Chief Secretaries of mineral bearing states in this connection twice dated September 9, 2010 and March 16 this year.

The ministry has asked state governments to accord due importance on the matter. It has instructed state governments to adhere to the time-frame prescribed under Rule 63-A of Mineral Concession Rules (MCR) for disposal of concession applications- RP within six months, PL within nine months and ML within 12 months.

The state governments have been asked to ensure renewal of mining leases in time as prescribed under Rule 24A of MCR and ensure that all their records regarding mineral concession and renewal applications are maintained properly and update regularly. In addition to this, the states will put up the status of concession cases before the state empowered committee on a quarterly basis for review and expeditious disposal. The onus will also be on state governments to adhere to the timelines prescribed by the ministry for submission of reports and undertake special drives for minimizing the pendency of application and renewal cases.