Tata Steel and some of the big merchant producers like Rungta Mines and Essel Mining & Industries Ltd have deposited their penalty arrears with the Odisha government as the December 31 deadline by the Supreme Court to recover the cost of excess production from the miners draws nearer.
Mining industry sources say all the big captive producers and large merchant miners will positively pay on or before the deadline to save their leases. While the big miners are meeting expenses from their own resources even the smaller and mid-scale miners are sparing no effort to fork out the compensation to stay afloat. The problem is with the mines which are no longer in operations as such owners are in no position to pay on their own or raise funds.
Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), the biggest defaulter with compensation amounting to Rs 2177.97 crore, said it would shell out the amount, latest by December 29. Other major miners with steep penalty burdens include Sharda Mines (Rs 1983.86 crore), Essel Mining (Rs 1102 crore), Mesco Steel (Rs 924.75 crore), Orissa Minerals Development Corporation (Rs 642 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 614 crore).
Official sources say, so far, Rs 2000 crore has been realized from the miners. The figure is only expected to go up as more miners scurry to pay the dues.
Mining companies are in tenterhooks ever since the Supreme Court ruled out any extension in dates for paying the penalties. In a double whammy, the top court also turned down petitions by miners to allow them to pay penalties in installments.
Adjudicating in a case of rampant illegal mining filed by the NGO Common Cause, the Supreme Court on August 2 directed the Odisha government to realize the cost of excess iron and manganese ore extracted illegally by mine leaseholders between 2000-01 and 2010-11. The court held miners were liable to pay 100 percent compensation as opposed to 30 percent recovery recommended by its panel- Central Empowered Committee (CEC) that had probed into large-scale illegal mining allegations in Odisha. The apex court said the amount payable by miners should conform to the figure worked out by CEC for violations of limits set under environment clearance (EC). The CEC had worked out the cost at Rs 17576.17 crore for EC violations.
Keeping to the Supreme Court judgment, the Odisha government dispatched its first demand notice to miners, seeking to recover the CEC suggested an amount. Later, the state government sent its second demand notice, amounting to Rs 2900 crore. The follow-up notice was for excess production done beyond the limits mandated by Consent to operate from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), mining plan endorsed by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and violation of Air & Water Acts. The second notice is contested by miners and is currently sub judice.
Leave a Reply