The Odisha Government on Tuesday decided to cap iron ore production in the State for 2014-15 at last year’s level of 57 million tonnes (MT).
“While the cap will be 13 MT in the Koira sector, it will be 44 MT in the Joda sector,” said Director of Mines Deepak Mohanty after a meeting of the State-level Taskforce on mining, which met here in the day under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary GC Pati.
Mohanty said the Government would allow 1,100 truckloads per day to the Paradip Port to avoid traffic congestion during the dispatch of the iron ore. Non-captive mines, however, would be allowed to dispatch their balance stocks to sail through the port this year, he said.
The Government had imposed restrictions on dispatch of the previous year’s stocks of iron ore till April 2014. “The miners will be informed about how much iron ore they can dispatch this year. We will inform them after fixing the limits for them,” said Mohanty.
As the State Cabinet has decided that the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) would provide minerals to the industries, which have signed MoUs with the Government for five years, the meeting decided to ramp up the production of the OMC.
“The meeting decided to increase the production two-fold this year. While the OMC’s minimum production would be 5.6 MT this year, it would be 9 MT in 2015-16 and 20 MT in 2016-17. The OMC has been asked to expedite the process of various clearances, including environment and forest clearances, pending at various stages,” said Mohanty.
The Government has also extended the time limit of eight mines, which are presently working with express order, to submit various clearances by November 15. The earlier deadline was October 20, he said.
In June this year, the Government had passed express orders in respect of eight mines, four held by Tata Steel, three by SAIl and the Kurmitar Pahar lease held by the OMC. The four Tata mines are Bamebari, Katamati, Joda East and Joda West while the three SAIl mines are Bolani, Barsuan and Kalta. The Government has not taken any decision on the remaining 18 mines. These eight lessees are yet to furnish compliance on the status of their environment and forest clearances.
In its May 16 interim order, the Supreme Court had called for suspending operations of 26 iron ore and manganese mines awaiting second and subsequent renewals that were operating under the provision of deemed lease extension.
These 26 leases were operating without any express orders of renewal passed by the State Government. The Taskforce meeting also decided to empower police personnel to detect mines-related cases in the coal-bearing districts.
Police would conduct search operations in the coal-bearing districts of Angul, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur, Mohanty said, informing that a notification would be issued by the Home Department in this regard soon.
Earlier, the Government had empowered the police for search operations with warrants in Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur districts under the MMDR Act.
Mohanty said the meeting also decided to form another unit of the State-level enforcement squad to strengthen patrolling system and detect cases of mining theft.
Besides, the Government has decided to expedite the renewal of mining leases as per the July 18 notification of the Union Government. The notification allows a “deemed extension” up to two years for mines seeking renewal for the first time, he said.He said six check gates would be installed this year against the target of 12 gates to be installed by 2016-17.