Odisha to cancel forest nod of NPV defaulters

Rs 813 crore forest use dues pending against miners

The state government has come up with a series of stringent measures to deal with huge pending dues of forest land use charges known as Net Present Value (NPV), which is collectible from mine owners.

It has decided to withdraw forest clearance of miners who fail to pay the dues within a month.

“In respect of cases where the defaulting lessees are continuing working in the mine, the lessee may be directed to deposit the balance of NPV within a period of 30 days failing which Government may be moved for withdrawal of the forest clearance granted to the lessee in respect of working mines,” said state forest and environment secretary R K Sharma in a letter addressed to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF).

The state government is yet to recover Rs 813.46 crore as NPV dues even after a Supreme Court order in this regard in 2010.

“It is essential to take vigorous and proactive steps for realisation of the unpaid amount of NPV along with interest,” Sharma said in the letter.

The NPV is the amount the user agencies need to deposit as per the Supreme Court order in 2002 for diversion of forest land for non-forest usage. It includes the cost of the land along with tangible and intangible benefits of the forest area and is charged at Rs 5.8 lakh to Rs 9.2 lakh per hectare depending on the type and density of the diverted forest land.

The government further said, for those miners who are not operating the mines and are seeking a renewal of their lease, the steel and mines department must be intimated to refuse their renewal application over non-payment of NPV dues.

“In case of lessees not operating any mines whether applied for renewal or not, steps may also be initiated for recovery of the balance NPV through certificate cases,” the forest secretary said.  

The biggest defaulter is state-run miner, Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) that needs to pay off NPV dues for its 11 mines with deposits of iron ore, manganese, chromite and china clay, amounting to Rs 301.95 crore. The list of defaulters include miners like Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL). SAIL has not paid the NPV for forest land coming within its Harmath iron and manganese mines under Keonjhar division.

The Keonjhar DFO had raised a demand of Rs 76.79 crore on the company.