Sudarsan Maharana
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 17: Poor generation of revenue from mining sector continues to worry the state government as collections continued to miss the earlier set target for the second consecutive quarter.
After missing the target of collecting Rs 1,560 crore in the first quarter, the state government had eyed a minimum collection of Rs 3,000 crore from this sector by the end of second quarter ending September. However, it has witnessed a shortfall of Rs 365.26 crore during this period.
“The revenue generation from the mining sector till October 15 stands at Rs 2,635.74crore,” said Steel and Mines minister, Prafulla Kumar Mallick. The state government had set a target of Rs 1,650 crore in the first quarter (from April to June) in 2015-16. However, revenue collection from the sector stood at Rs 1,551.28 crore till August, which was around Rs 90 crore less than first quarter target. During April to June period, the state government could collect only Rs 1,081 crore.
The state government has set a target of generating Rs 6,750 crore revenue from mining sector this fiscal. Notably, mining royalty collection was also reported a shortfall during 2014-15 fiscal. While the target for royalty was Rs 6,347 crore, the department could collect only Rs 5,308 Crore. Though, the state government has registered a 28 per cent growth from tax and non-tax sector by August this fiscal, revenue shortfall from the mining sector continues during this period.
However officials said that with decks being cleared for reopening of several closed mines, the government may achieve its annual target. The state government has already earned over Rs 800crore from signing of supplementary lease deeds by mine’s owners of closed mines for resuming operations.
The government is also hopeful of receiving royalty following the auction of nearly 12 mines in the state as per the provision of new Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 2015. The Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) survey and other auction formalities of these blocks are likely to be completed by the end of this month following the auction process will be initiated.