In a bid to expedite cases of mineral concessions in Orissa, the state government plans to put in place a comprehensive database of all the mining leases as well as applicants for prospecting and mining licenses.
The decision to compile the database has been necessitated by the inordinate delay in processing of applications for mineral concessions in the state.
"An inter-departmental committee met today and has decided to prepare a complete database of all cases of mineral concessions. The database will help us to dispose off mineral concession cases expeditiously. To expedite the disposal of these cases, we need to examine the pendency of these cases at various levels, beginning from the district level to the secretariat level. We also need to track the status of forest clearance for these cases,” B K Patnaik, the state Chief Secretary told mediapersons after the meeting.
The inter-departmental committee headed by the Chief Secretary consists of secretaries of the departments of steel & mines, forest & environment, industries and energy as members.
Manoj Ahuja, secretary (steel & mines) said, “We'll have a database of different mining leases in the state. Our objective is to help expedite clearances for mineral concession cases and avoid delay. There will be frequent meetings between the departments of steel & mines and forest & environment to strengthen coordination.”
He did not comment on the number of mineral concession cases pending in the state.
There are as many as 597 mining leases in the state out of which only 125 leases are currently operational. There are 310 applicants for renewal of leases of which around 30 cases have already been disposed off.
Meanwhile, it has been decided to operationalize the Project Management Unit (PMU) in the steel & mines department by the end of June this year. The PMU envisages maintenance of online records of all information related to the steel sector and mining activities.
“The Chief Minister today reviewed the status of PMU and enquired its status. Under PMU, all information related to mining sector will be displayed on the website of the department of steel & mines,” said Raghunath Mohanty, minister for industries and steel & mines.
The PMU will first be made operational in the Joda mining circle by June 1 and transporters in the circle can make online applications for transport permits. All the 14 circle mining offices in the state have already been inter-connected through the State Wide Area Network (SWAN).
