Steel & mines department disposes 70 RML applications

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The state steel & mines department has so far disposed of around 70 applications for renewal of mine lease (RML) and is committed to overcome pendency in such applications at the earlies.

“We have already disposed of around 70 RML applications. While most of the applications have been rejected, we have also recommended renewal of some applicants which will be renewed following government order. The steel & mines department is keen to expedite processing of RML applications which are pending at collectorate and directorate levels,” said a top official source.

More than 200 RML applications are still pending at different levels. Meanwhile, 51 lessees are operating their mines under deemed extension. The list of mines operating under deemed extension includes Tata Steel, Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd (FACOR), Essel Mining & Industries Ltd Mid-East Integrated Steel, Patnaik Minerals Ltd, R P Sao, Rungta Mines and OCL India among others.

The steel & mines department has rebuffed RML cases of Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys-IMFA, B C Sahu, Basudev Pradhan, K K Das, K K Agrawal, Keonjhar Minerals Ltd, Pravash Chandra Agrawal, B K Mohanty, R C Das, Neelachal Refractories, P R Jain, Pratap Chandra Mohanty, Prabir Ghose, Jyoti Parmanik, D M Minerals and Shah Refractories to name a few.

A special cell has been constituted within the department for for disposal of RML applications.

The decision to form the RML cell has been prompted by the huge volume of pending cases and the inordinate delay in disposal of such cases.

The cell is monitoring the disposal and processing of cases by the concerned officers of the department. Besides, the cell is also coordinating with the office of the Mines Directorate. On digitization of mine lease boundaries, the official said of the total of 186 iron ore and manganese ore mines in the state, mine digitization work has been completed for 160 mines.

“The Chief Secretary has expressed satisfaction made on the progress of mine mapping work. We hope to complete the balance digitization work by the end of this month,” he added. The digital mine maps are being prepared by Orissa Space Applications Centre (ORSAC). The work is being carried out in consultation with the Directorate of Mines and revenue department.