Bhubaneswar: At a time when the state relies heavily on mining revenue to fund its development initiatives, the government is facing a bizarre situation wherein it is losing mining revenue of several hundred crores.
A section of private firms has allegedly devised ways to misappropriate large sums of money by avoiding payment of mining-related dues, while the government appears to have turned a blind eye to the issue.
A review of offi cial data suggests that this happens in cahoots with certain Mines department offi cials who are extending all possible concessions to benefi t a few select companies.
As a result, funds meant for public welfare schemes are allegedly being diverted into private pockets. Mining leaseholders are governed by rules that specify the quantity of minerals they are permitted to extract on a daily or annual basis.
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The government has also stipulated that if any company exceeds its approved production limit, it must pay additional stamp duty and registration fees accordingly.
However, these rules appear to exist largely on paper. Despite extracting minerals beyond the permissible daily and annual limits, several leaseholders are allegedly not paying the corresponding stamp duty and registration fees.
Multiple companies are reported to be extracting minerals indiscriminately and selling them without complying with these fi nancial obligations.
Among those named for allegedly violating the rules are Tata Steel, which operates iron ore mines at Joda East, Katamati, Tiring Pahar, Bamebari, Khandabandha and Joda West; and Indrani Pattnaik Minerals, which operates in Uchhabali iron and minerals mines. Instead of paying the additional stamp duties and registration fees for excessive extraction, these entities have fi led writ petitions in the High Court challenging the government’s decisions.
As a result, while the cases remain pending, the state government has reportedly been deprived of stamp duty amounting to Rs 234.51 crore and registration fees of Rs 93.80 crore – totaling Rs 328.31 crore.
There is growing uncertainty over when these cases will be finally heard and when the state will recover its rightful revenues. Officials say this approach has set a precedent, encouraging other mining companies to follow suit. By citing pending court cases, many are allegedly extracting minerals beyond approved limits without paying the additional dues.
A senior mining official said while the cases are sub judice, the government is currently failing to maintain accurate data on the actual quantity of minerals being extracted daily by leaseholders.
As a result, minerals worth several thousand crore rupees are allegedly being siphoned off from the state every day through this route.
The issue was highlighted in the Assembly December 4, when Mines Minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena provided details of outstanding dues.
According to his statement, Tata Steel Ltd owes Rs 49.40 crore in stamp duty and Rs 19.76 crore in registration fees for excess extraction at the Joda East iron ore mines.
At Katamati, the company owes Rs 61.27 crore in stamp duty and Rs 24.59 crore in registration fees. Similarly, Indrani Pattnaik owes Rs 39.03 crore in stamp duty and Rs15.61 crore in registration fees.
Tata Steel’s dues for Tiring Pahar mining include Rs 3.26 crore in stamp duty and 1.30 crore in registration fees; for Bamebari mining 3.78 crore in stamp duty and 1.51 crore in registration fees; for Khandabandha mining, 67.84 crore in stamp duty and 27.13 crore in registration fees; and for Joda West mining, 9.69 crore in stamp duty and 3.87 crore in registration fees.
