Mining revenue collections up 33.86%

The decision of the Union government to levy royalty on iron ore at the rate of 10 per cent of market value has paid rich dividend to the Orissa government with the collection of mining revenue surging by 33.86 percent during the first 10 months of 2009-10. The collections overshot the target by about Rs 116 crore, sources said.

The mining revenue collection during Apr-Jan. in this fiscal was Rs 1439.51 crore against the target of Rs 1323.35 crore set by the government for this period. This is 33.86 per cent higher than the collections in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

 

About Rs 1075.26 crore were collected by the department during Apr-Jan in 2008-09 against the target of Rs 1245 crore, sources said.

It may be noted, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided to levy royalty on iron ore on ad valorem basis in August last year. Orissa has been demanding the introduction of ad valorem royalty on iron ore for long time.

Encouraged by the trends in the collection of mining revenue despite the closure of some mines, the government expects the total mining revenue to cross Rs 1800 crore, which is Rs 200 crore more than Rs 1600 crore target set by the department in the beginning of the fiscal.

Sources said, the collections during January this year was Rs 174.07 crore compared to Rs 113.5 crore in January, 2009.This is despite the failure of eight mining circles to achieve the target.

The circles which failed to achieve the target were Sambalpur, Jajpur Road, Baripada, Cuttack, Berhampur, Bolangir, Kalahandi and Phulbani. It may be noted, Orissa collected Rs 1,340.13 crore as mining revenue during the last fiscal compared to the target of Rs 1,250 crore.