State to renew 150 mining leases in 12 months

As part of its endeavour to expedite renewal of mining leases, the state steel and mines department has targeted to renew 150 cases within the next 12 months.

As many as 310 applicants had applied for renewal of mining leases (RML) out of which 53 were eligible and they are now operating under deemed extension.

To start with, the department will first renew eight out of these 53 cases which have all the requisite clearances and are currently operating under deemed extension. The steel & mines department has already issued renewal notices to the firms operating these mines.

"We think that we should be disposing 150 RML cases in the next 12 months. Presently, there are 53 mining leases in the state which are working under deemed extension out of which eight have all the necessary clearances and we would dispose these eight cases at the earliest”, a top official of the state steel & mines department told Business Standard.Out of the 53 mining leases, 28 cases which do not have the requisite forest clearance have paid the Net Present Value (NPV) for diversion of forest land for mining activities.

The NPV collection from mining activities has been to the tune of Rs 2400 crore out of which the state owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) has paid around Rs 800 crore.

Among these 53 cases, there are 10 other cases which have Temporary Work Permit (TWP) and are awaiting the Stage-II forest clearance. Also, there are two cases sub-judice with the Supreme Court of India while other cases of renewal pertain to mining activities being carried out on non-forest land.

RML cases in the state were temporarily put on hold as a six-member committee headed by Director (Mines) was constituted to look into the cases of miners raising ores beyond the IBM (Indian Bureau of Mines) approved Mining Plan.

According to the report submitted by the committee in September end, there were 87 mines lifting ores beyond the approved 'Mining Plan' of IBM. Presently, IBM was scrutinizing the cases of these miners.

"Amongst these 87 mines, there are some RML cases which will be taken up only after the IBM presents its findings. There may be some cases where a partial excess in production may have been regularized by IBM and such cases can be considered for renewal”, the source added.

The renewal of mining leases hinges on several factors like environmental clearance, forest clearance or payment of NPV, pending litigation and settlement of outstanding dues.