Odisha to act against 24 mines for not paying fines ordered by apex court

Mid-East Integrated Steels, B K Mohanty, Arjun Ladha, Ferro Alloys Corporation (FACOR), B C Deb and S N Das Mohapatra are among the 24 miners.

Odisha has warned 24 mines of coercive action, like freezing bank accounts, for failing to pay fines ordered by the Supreme Court for overproducing minerals—an unprecedented crackdown on a sector that earns the state vital revenue.

Some mines have not paid even a single rupee as compensation for producing mineral ores in breach of approved limits between 2000-01 and 2010-11. Other businesses said that cannot arrange funds as their mines were inoperative when the Supreme Court ordered the compensation in August 2017. The apex court pronounced the body blow on miners while adjudicating in a case of rampant illegal mining in