Orissa forms panel to look into renewal of mining leases

Within weeks after framing guidelines for renewal of mining leases and reserving all unleased mines to the state-run PSU,Orissa Mining Corporation,the Naveen Patnaik government on Tuesday formed an inter-departmental committee to consider cases of renewal of mining leases.

Last week,the Steel and Mines department had passed a resolution stating that “second and subsequent renewals of mining leases cannot be claimed as a matter of right and there must be sufficient reasons to say that such renewal is in the interest of mineral development”. The department had said that mining leases would be renewed if the mineral from the same were used for the captive purpose of the lessee,but the renewed lease shall be limited to the captive requirement of 30 years of the existing capacity of the mineral industry of the lessee.

A circular from the Steel and Mines department said all proposals for renewal of mining leases and statutory clearances under different laws would be placed before the 12-member committee to be headed by an additional chief secretary rank officer.