 "SC ruling on Goa mining may hurt 19 Odisha mines")
The recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling on mining in Goa, holding that deemed mining licences can be valid for not more than 20 years, is likely to hurt 19 iron ore and manganese mines in Odisha operating under similar provisions, experts said.
Among 19 such mining leases are the ones held by state owned Odisha Mining Corporation (Balda-Palsa-Jajang iron ore, Sakradihi & Dubuna manganese ore mines), R P Sao, Kalinga Mining Corporation, M G Mohanty, T B Lal, M S Deb and Matadin Sarda to name a few. The average combined annual production of these mines works out to about 0.4 million tonnes.
“Quite a good number of mines in Odisha are functioning under provisions of ‘deemed extension’ and among them are mines whose lease expiry has crossed 20 years. The SC verdict on Goa mining may spur the Odisha government to issue notices to stop operations of mine owners whose operations under deemed extension has gone beyond 20 years,” said mining expert Prabhakar Rout.
Under Section 24-A (6) of Mineral Concession Rules, 1960, if a miner has applied for lease renewal a year before the expiry and the state government fails to expedite renewal applications within due date, the miner will be considered to be operating under extension of lease validity.
“The state government might go for suspension of such mines whose deemed operation has gone beyond 20 years since the expiry of the leases. But the government is yet to dispose off pending RML (renewal of mining lease) applications and has collected royalty from such miners,” said a former director of mines & geology.
The state steel and mines department is keeping its fingers crossed at the moment.
“We are yet to take a call on the matter. The implications of the SC ruling on Goa mining are likely to be discussed at the meeting of the apex court-appointed central empowered committee (CEC) on Thursday. A decision will be taken after a thorough reading of the apex court’s order,” said a department official.
In Odisha, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), Essel Mining & Industries Ltd (EMIL), Mid East Integrated Steel Ltd, Ferro Alloys Corporation (FACOR), Rungta Sons and KJS Ahluwalia were among the 55 miners operating their leases under ‘deemed extension’.
While the Odisha High Court (HC), in an interim order in December, 2012, had asked the state government to dispose of all pending RML applications in three months, the government has been pleading for repeated extensions, citing that being quasi judicial matters, clearing renewal files was time consuming.
The HC order was in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought repeal the controversial deemed extension clause of MCR,1960.
The petitioner had alleged that many miners were operating under this provision with the connivance of state government officials and in some cases the deemed extension period goes beyond 20 years after lease expiry.
Among 19 such mining leases are the ones held by state owned Odisha Mining Corporation (Balda-Palsa-Jajang iron ore, Sakradihi & Dubuna manganese ore mines), R P Sao, Kalinga Mining Corporation, M G Mohanty, T B Lal, M S Deb and Matadin Sarda to name a few. The average combined annual production of these mines works out to about 0.4 million tonnes.
“Quite a good number of mines in Odisha are functioning under provisions of ‘deemed extension’ and among them are mines whose lease expiry has crossed 20 years. The SC verdict on Goa mining may spur the Odisha government to issue notices to stop operations of mine owners whose operations under deemed extension has gone beyond 20 years,” said mining expert Prabhakar Rout.
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But such a move might not be legally tenable, he said, arguing that it was the state government that was sitting over mining lease renewal applications and allowing the lessees to extract ore.
Under Section 24-A (6) of Mineral Concession Rules, 1960, if a miner has applied for lease renewal a year before the expiry and the state government fails to expedite renewal applications within due date, the miner will be considered to be operating under extension of lease validity.
“The state government might go for suspension of such mines whose deemed operation has gone beyond 20 years since the expiry of the leases. But the government is yet to dispose off pending RML (renewal of mining lease) applications and has collected royalty from such miners,” said a former director of mines & geology.
The state steel and mines department is keeping its fingers crossed at the moment.
“We are yet to take a call on the matter. The implications of the SC ruling on Goa mining are likely to be discussed at the meeting of the apex court-appointed central empowered committee (CEC) on Thursday. A decision will be taken after a thorough reading of the apex court’s order,” said a department official.
In Odisha, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), Essel Mining & Industries Ltd (EMIL), Mid East Integrated Steel Ltd, Ferro Alloys Corporation (FACOR), Rungta Sons and KJS Ahluwalia were among the 55 miners operating their leases under ‘deemed extension’.
While the Odisha High Court (HC), in an interim order in December, 2012, had asked the state government to dispose of all pending RML applications in three months, the government has been pleading for repeated extensions, citing that being quasi judicial matters, clearing renewal files was time consuming.
The HC order was in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought repeal the controversial deemed extension clause of MCR,1960.
The petitioner had alleged that many miners were operating under this provision with the connivance of state government officials and in some cases the deemed extension period goes beyond 20 years after lease expiry.