"The scam relates to renewal of licenses. Official documents show of the 107 iron ore mines in Odisha, 83 are operating by using 'deemed to' clause of the mining law," the senior Congress leader told reporters here, describing the mining scam in Odisha as much bigger than the ones in Goa and Karnataka.
A license for a lease should be renewed if the conditions linked to it are met, which is in the domain of the state government, he said, adding since the licenses are not renewed, things are obviously not in order and even public sector companies are also operating on "deemed to" status.
"Is it not a deliberate excuse of the government to keep the renewal of public sector companies in abeyance in order to justify the continued operation by private mine owners on 'deemed to' status," the Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation and Chemicals and Fertilisers said.
Jena said he has written a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik drawing his attention to the matter.
Claiming that nearly 50 crore tons of iron ore have been extracted in Odisha since 2003-04, he said, a handful of mine owners have raked in profits worth over Rs two lakh crore during the period.
"If we take into account clandestine mining and the money minted by unscrupulous mine owners, it will not be less than another 50 crore tonnes and another Rs two lakh crore," Jena said in his letter to the CM.
In the interest of the state and its people, the state-run OMC should be given exclusive mining rights over iron ore, manganese, bauxite and chromite and to sell them at prevailing market price, he said.
Ores should be given at a concessional rate, as an incentive, to industries investing in the growth and development of Odisha, he said. (MORE)
