Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday urged Union steel and mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar to grant mining lease and prospective license of Karalapat mines in favour of Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) in order to ensure linkage of bauxite ore to private aluminium industries.
During a meeting with Tomar at the secretariat here in presence of state steel and mines minister Prafulla Mallik, Patnaik informed that OMC has already applied for mining lease for an explored area (1,848 ha) and prospecting license for an unexplored area (1,157 ha) of Karalapat mines.
When Patnaik drew Tomar’s attention on the functioning of Nalco’s Aluminium Park at Angul, the latter assured that Nalco would provide 50,000 metric tonnes of aluminium for the park. The CM informed Tomar that the state had constituted district mineral foundations (DMFs) in 12 mineral-bearing districts and such foundations would be created in the remaining districts soon.
Stressing on greater participation of national PSUs like SAIL, MCL and Nalco in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, Patnaik suggested that the CSR projects should be tailored as per the need of the local people in consultation with the local administration.
However, Patnaik and Tomar did not discuss anything related to Posco, the biggest FDI project proposed in the country. “Nothing was discussed about the Posco project. Our CM has raised this issue with the Union finance minister and also requested a high-level meeting to resolve matters related to the project,” Mallik said. “No issue related to the Posco project is pending with my ministry,” Tomar told reporters after meeting Patnaik.