Bhubaneswar: While the state steel & mines department has set an internal timeline to restart operations of the closed 18 mines by July-end, a new huddle has come its way. According to reliable sources the Development Commissioner of the state government, Aditya Padhi has asked for more clarity on the issue, as if the government grants permissions to reopen the mines it’d directly violate state government’s Oct’12 resolution on mining renewal.
The Odisha government through its Oct’12 resolution had emphasized on value addition and captive consumption of minerals while granting renewal orders.
According to the resolution, if the mineral from the mining lease is being used for captive purpose, the areas to be renewed shall be limited to 30 years captive requirement of mineral industry’s existing capacity of the lessee. It said that the leases awaiting second and subsequent renewal but operating under the clause of deemed extension will be covered by this policy. However in such cases, the rise in mineral may be limited to captive consumption only.
Since, the government has stressed that only mines contributing to mineral development (value addition) will be considered for renewal of mining leases on priority basis, reopening the 18 merchant mines will be difficult. The resolution further says that miners cannot claim renewal of leases just because they have got it earlier.
As many as 26 mines were closed after the Supreme Court’s order on 16 May, 2014 but the state government has allowed 8 mines including 5 mines of Tata, 2 mines of SAIL and 1 mine of OMC to resume operation through an express order. However the 18 mines, almost all merchant mines were still waiting for government nod for starting operation.
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