Bhubaneswar: State Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallick Saturday told reporters that the state government will auction five to 10 mines out of 36 mineral blocks available in Odisha in July.
Mallick informed media in this matter on the sidelines of a seminar on ‘Responsible Mining’ held at a city hotel. The seminar was organised by Sukinda and Bhubaneswar mining associations in the city.
“Licenses of about 24 functional mines will expire by March 31, 2020 but we are well-prepared with alternative solutions. We have planned to auction those mines to ensure uninterrupted production. Out of the 36 mineral blocks, five to 10 mines will be auctioned next month. These blocks are ready for the mining,” Mallick said.
A recent report claimed that the Centre and the steel industries are asking the state government to speed up the auction process of the mineral blocks. Earlier, the auction process was delayed till the latter half of 2019 because of the Lok Sabha elections.
The minister claimed that the Central government is to take a decision on the state’s demand of coal royalty.
Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik requested the Centre to expedite a decision on the state government’s long-pending claim to revise the rate of royalty on coal from the present 14 per cent to 20 per cent.
“The Centre has been informed about our demand. However, the Centre is yet to take a decision on the issue. The state government is facing revenue losses in the mining sector owing to the Centre’s delay in taking a decision on the royalty issue. We expect that the Coal Ministry will take a positive call on this matter very soon,” the minister said.
