Odisha steel federation demands waiver of mining/trading licence to standalone steel units 

Bhubaneswar:  The All Odisha steel federation (AOSF) has demanded
 for waiver of the Mining Dues Clearance
Certificate (MDCC) for the standalone sponge iron plants and steel plants. The
federation has also demanded that the sponge iron and steel plants should be
exempted from taking the mining trading licence.  These are among the nine demands the steel
lobby group has submitted to the state government. Subsequently the state steel
and mines department has convened a meeting on 5^th of July for discussion
with the stakeholders on the issue.

Presently the
sponge iron and Steel units are required to apply for the MDCC for obtaining
the mineral trading licence. In his letter AOSF president Mr.P.L.Kandoi has argued
that, since MDCC is totally linked with the mining activity and to payment of
mining dues like royalty, and steel units are buying royalty paid ore -MDCC
should be waived for the standalone sponge-iron and steel units. At the same
time he has demanded that the sponge-iron and steel units should be exempted
from taking the mining trading licence, as they are neither mining nor trading
the ore. These steel units are consuming the ore and doing value addition to
the minerals.

The Federation
has also demanded that mining permission for imported coal should be waived. “Since
imported coal does not attract royalty or any other payment to the state
government, the necessity for taking obtaining permission should be waived,”