2 NOV, 2012, ET BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Odisha stands to earn up to Rs 24,000 crore in revenue claims as a result of mining "without statutory clearances" over the past decade. In notices sent a day after a Centre-appointed investigating committee arrived for a third and possibly a final visit to Odisha, the state sent out notices claiming thousands of crores from Aditya Birla Group's Essel Mining, Sarda Mines, Tata Steel and Indrani Patnaik Mines, among others.
The state accounts for a third of the country's iron ore, a key input to make steel. Like Goa and Karnataka, it has been overwhelmed by mining controversies and awaits its independent verdict from a central investigation committee currently in the state. Mines department officials confirmed 27 notices. The timing of these notices has raised eyebrows. The notices were sent out on October 26 to mines, including those of the Tatas (Joda west), Essel and KJS Ahluwalia's for excess mining done between 2001 and 2010. This, despite the mines ministry warning Odisha in September that it must not confuse excess mining with illegal mining.
Production at mines is controlled by a mining plan approved by the Centre's Indian Bureau of Mines, a pollution control limit and a cap that come with an environmental and forest clearance. According to the department of mines in Joda district, Tata Steel's one mine alone owes the state government more than Rs3,780 crore while a mine owned by the Birlas' Essel Mining owes Rs3,387 crore.
NEW DELHI: Odisha stands to earn up to Rs 24,000 crore in revenue claims as a result of mining "without statutory clearances" over the past decade. In notices sent a day after a Centre-appointed investigating committee arrived for a third and possibly a final visit to Odisha, the state sent out notices claiming thousands of crores from Aditya Birla Group's Essel Mining, Sarda Mines, Tata Steel and Indrani Patnaik Mines, among others.
The state accounts for a third of the country's iron ore, a key input to make steel. Like Goa and Karnataka, it has been overwhelmed by mining controversies and awaits its independent verdict from a central investigation committee currently in the state. Mines department officials confirmed 27 notices. The timing of these notices has raised eyebrows. The notices were sent out on October 26 to mines, including those of the Tatas (Joda west), Essel and KJS Ahluwalia's for excess mining done between 2001 and 2010. This, despite the mines ministry warning Odisha in September that it must not confuse excess mining with illegal mining.
Production at mines is controlled by a mining plan approved by the Centre's Indian Bureau of Mines, a pollution control limit and a cap that come with an environmental and forest clearance. According to the department of mines in Joda district, Tata Steel's one mine alone owes the state government more than Rs3,780 crore while a mine owned by the Birlas' Essel Mining owes Rs3,387 crore.
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