Bhubaneswar: The fines collected by the state government from miners for illegal mining will be ustilsed for development of villages in the mineral bearing districts of the state, Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick said Wednesday.
The minister said that the money would be spent as per the Supreme Court directives through Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). It will be spent through Orissa Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBARDC) in 1,000 identified villages of eight mineral-bearing districts in the state. These districts include Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Angul, Jharsuguda, Koraput, Jajpur and Rayagada.
The minister said that money would be spent on housing, roads, drinking water, electrification and other developmental activities. As per the direction of Supreme Court, the state government had slapped notices on 131 mines seeking Rs 17,576 crore.
PNN
