State not to consider extension of PSU mine leases

The state government will not consider cases of extension of mining leases held by PSUs till the Union mines ministry finalises Rules under the recently enacted Mines and Minerals- (Development & Regulation) MMDR Act, 2015.

"The Union mines ministry is coming out with special rules for extending the mining leases held by the PSUs. Till such Rules are finalised, we are not going to consider such leases for extension", said an official at steel & mines department.

According to the draft Rules of the ministry, a virgin mining lease awarded to a government company is likely to have a validity of 100 years. The Rules state that the lease will be awarded for 50 years to state-run companies and upon expiry of this period, it may be extended for another 50 years.

The state government has issued suitable orders for extending the operations of 29 mining leases. In the next lot, cases of 43 mines have been lined up for scrutiny and subsequent extension. Out of these 43 mines, 20-odd leases are held by PSUs like Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC) and state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). All these leases were functioning under the 'deemed extension' clause of the Mineral Concession Rules (MCR), 1960.

The amended MMDR Act has done away with the concept of renewal. All leases awaiting renewal were automatically allowed to operate till 2020 in case of merchant mines and up to 2030 for captive mines, as per Section 8 (A) 5 and 8 (A) 6 of the Act, subject to fulfilment of lease conditions. Out of 29 mines that have obtained government orders for extension of lease validity, 21 are captive mines with the balance being non-captive mines. Around 20 mines including the ones owned by Tata Steel, Rungta Group, Orissa Manganese & Minerals Ltd (OMM) and Aryan Mining & Trading Corporation Ltd (AMTC) have executed supplementary lease deeds with the government.

The state government had allowed three months' time (from the date of issue of orders) to lessees to sign supplementary lease deeds.

The mine owners have been allowed extension of lease validity under conditions which include payment of NPV (net present value) dues and complying with the Supreme Court order to be pronounced in the final disposal of the cases relating to their mines as well as pending orders on recommendations of the MB Shah Commission of enquiry and the central empowered committee (CEC) on illegal mining in the state.