Odisha Mining Firms

The Odisha government has sanctioned 60 projects worth more than Rs 18,000 crore from Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation (OMBADC) funds till October this year, an official said. OMBADC chief executive officer G Rajesh said this during the meeting of the board of directors of the corporation held under the chairmanship of chief secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena on Thursday. OMBADC, a special-purpose vehicle of the Government of Odisha, was incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 in December 2014. Rajesh said that the board has approved 60 projects under different sectors amounting to more than Rs 18,000 crore against the total collection of Rs 20,700 crore till October 2023. The 18 departments, which are executing the OMBADC projects, have utilised 72 per cent of the released amount which stands at Rs 10,868 crore, he said. The highest expenditure of 93 per cent has been made by the Housing and Urban Development department followed by Panchayati Raj and Drinking Wate

Odisha BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi has claimed that the state's exchequer was suffering losses to the tune of crores of rupees due to the BJD government's "unholy nexus with mine owners". Sarangi, a bureaucrat-turned-BJP politician, claimed that the state government "downgraded" the quality of iron ore being produced in some mines auctioned recently. Insisting that a big scam has been pulled off, the Bhubaneswar MP, during a press meet on Monday, said the ratio of low-grade iron ore in 2019-2020 was valued at 23 per cent; it increased to 95 per cent in 2021-2022. "This would not have been possible without connivance between the government and the mine owners," she said. Earlier, Justice MB Shah Commission, during its probe into illegal mining, had detected losses of Rs 59,000 crore, causing a flutter in the state, she said. It was expected that the situation would change for better after that. The scale of irregularities, however, have only increased with time," the MP said. Rejecti

Although the govt extended the validity of all statutory permits by 2 years for smooth transition, the lockdown is bound to delay the resumption of these mines

While the Ordinance has bulldozed fears of disruption in iron ore supplies, the viability of merchant producers is at stake

Closure of mines and disruptions due to changes in legislations has thrown the sector out of gear, curtailing production and endangering jobs

OCPL can sell 6,000 tonnes of coal per day to Coal India at notified prices

As opposed to 14-15 auctions planned in 2018-2019, the state has seen only five

Mining entities in Odisha are in a rush to fork out penalties ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) for overproduction during 2000-11, as the December 31 deadline looms.The companies need to pay a total of about Rs 17,576 crore in compensation for extracting iron and manganese ore beyond the limits approved earlier under environment clearance (EC) rules. After the SC recently ruled out any extension in payment deadline, the companies are making intense effort to save their operational leases. The top court also ruled out payment in instalments."All big captive and merchant mining companies would pay the compensation amount to save their leases. Tata Steel, Rungta Mines and Essel Mining & Industries have already done so. All operational mines are expected to meet the deadline. For mines out of operations, it would be tough for the leaseholders to make timely payment," said a mining industry source.The SC judgment was dated August 2 this year. It had directed the state government to ...