Mining revenue collection at Rs 4517 cr in 2011-12

Mining revenue collection in Odisha has crossed Rs 4000 crore in 2011-12, beating the state's own Budgetary estimate (BE) of Rs 3050 crore.

Revenue from non-ferrous mining & metallurgical industries for the last fiscal stood at Rs 4517.10 crore, posting 35.68 per cent growth over 2010-11. Mining royalty is the single largest contributor to the state's non-tax revenue segment, accounting for over 75 per cent of collection.

"The enhanced collection is due to better reporting of prices of iron ore and chrome ore by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM). The state mining department has also collected penalty from errant miners which has boosted collection”, a top official source told Business Standard.

 

The mining revenue in Odisha has grown significantly from Rs 2020.76 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 3329.25 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 4517.10 crore in 2011-12.

As per figures of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), royalty collection for all states during April-December 2011 totaled to Rs 5828.84 crore of which Odisha's share was the highest at Rs 2365.43 crore. Mining royalty collection in Odisha was much higher than other mineral bearing states like Rajasthan (Rs 774.89 crore), Jharkhand (Rs 348.88 crore), Karnataka (Rs 288.01 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 757.90 crore), Goa (Rs 352.05 crore) and Gujarat (Rs 258.74 crore).

To boost mining revenue collection, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been demanding introduction of Mineral Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) on windfall gains made by miners. The state expected to garner additional revenue of Rs 4000-5000 crore from the mining sector if the Centre introduces the tax.

The Chief Minister had written to Union minister of state for mines Dinsha Patel and also sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, pitching for levy of MRRT on miners.

Justifying the need for introduction of MRRT, Patnaik pointed out that during 2001-11, iron ore sales have jumped ten-fold from Rs 1092.98 crore to Rs 11285.33 crore while net profit has surged 27 times during this period from Rs 343.94 crore to Rs 9727.17 crore.

As per the audited financial results of public sector miner National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), the average sales income from iron ore per tonne has risen from Rs 625.99 in 2001-02 to Rs 4287.74 in 2010-11, a jump of 585 per cent.