Orissa to cancel lease of defunct iron ore mines

In a major development, the Orissa government has decided to cancel the licences of all iron ore mines where no mining activity has taken place for the last two years.

The district collectors concerned had been told to recommend such cases for cancellation, state Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabh Behera said after a review meeting here.

Behera said the state government had identified 36 such cases. These mines, he said, had not been worked on for the last two years without any valid reason.

The move is significant as it will free a large amount of iron ore for allotment to companies that have signed MoUs for setting up steel plants in the state.

The state government is under severe pressure to allot captive leases to these companies (45 in total) as the iron ore promised in these MoUs far exceeds the available resources.

Meanwhile, the government has asked the collector of the Keonjhar district to send all proposals for renewal of mining leases to the directorate of mines by October so that the government can take a view by December, official sources say.

The government's review revealed that 93 proposals for renewal of mining leases were under consideration at various levels in mineral-rich Keonjhar and Sundergarh districts alone.

In Keonjhar, 63 proposals are awaiting clearance. Of this, while 17 are under the consideration of the state government, three are pending with the directorate of mines.

The district administration is yet to forward 43 proposals to the state authorities. There are 33 mining lease proposals awaiting first renewal. While four of them are under the consideration of the state government, two are with the directorate of mines and 27 are under the consideration of the Keonjhar administration.

A total of 20 proposals are for second renewal. While12 of these are under the consideration of the district administration, eight are being considered by the state government.

Besides, there are 10 proposals awaiting third renewal. Five of these are with the state government, one with the directorate of mines and four under the district administration.

Behera has instructed the Keonjhar collector to forward all pending proposals to the steel and mines department before October.

These proposals will be sent to the directorate of mines, which will send it to the state government sometime in November. The government is expected to take a final view by December 2007. The minister, however, made it clear that the leases would be renewed on merit.

In Sundergarh district, five proposals are for first renewal and 25 are for second renewal. However, the Sundergarh collector was able to clear all the proposals pending at the district level on the day of the review.

Expressing displeasure over the delay in forwarding of lease renewal proposals to the state authorities, the minister directed the director of mines to undertake field visit to these mineral rich districts to expedite the process.