Institutionalising trust through digital taransparency

To deepen governance reforms, Chhattisgarh has leveraged technology to create Khanij Online 2.0, a transparent, real-time digital platform that is transforming mineral administration across the value chain.

The transition towards the ambitious goals of Viksit Bharat demands not only policy vision but also precise, scalable, and accountable mechanisms for implementation. In a resource-rich state like Chhattisgarh, where key national industries rely on minerals, ensuring the integrity and efficiency of resource management is a core administrative imperative. The successful digital transformation of the mining sector through Khanij Online provides a robust model for how technology can institutionalise trust and accountability across diverse stakeholders.

The Imperative for Digital Governance

Historically, mineral administration often suffered from information asymmetry, procedural opaqueness, and leakage points between extraction and royalty collection. This systemic inefficiency burdened lessees and licensees while hindering the government’s capacity for real-time compliance monitoring.

The first response to this challenge was the introduction of Khanij Online in 2017. This marked a pivotal moment, shifting mineral administration from manual, file-based processing to a single, integrated digital platform. This initial policy fix addressed the need for programmatic loyalty by focusing on systemic reforms, ensuring that the government programme was implemented efficiently and transparently.

Policy Achievements

The initial version of the platform rapidly integrated key sector stakeholders, including 131 leaseholders, 172 licensees, 3,264 end users, and over 56,901 registered vehicles. This integration yielded immediate and measurable results, evidenced by the 138 million tonnes of mineral despatch facilitated and the collection of substantial state revenue (over INR 8,124 crore in royalties and levies). The system’s efficacy was validated by the prestigious National e-Governance Award (2019-20), recognising its success in digital transformation.

This trust was fostered primarily because the system provided essential functional integrity. It achieved this through real-time production and despatch monitoring for government officials, automated approval of daily discharges, and simplified single-click payment for all statutory dues (including royalty, DMF, NMET, and cess). Crucially, logistical integrity was ensured on the ground through the mandatory generation of barcoded e-Transit Passes and the use of GPS-enabled tracking alongside e-check posts, effectively eliminating opportunities for manual intervention and pilferage. This demonstrated that bureaucratic discipline, when enabled by technology, creates a competitive advantage for major users like BALCO, Hindalco, ACC, UltraTech, NMDC, and SECL.

Scaling Up Accountability

The administration recognised that sustained excellence requires continuous adaptation. The launch of Khanij Online 2.0 marks the next logical step in institutional evolution. The upgraded platform is now hosted on a robust, MeitY-empanelled cloud (PaaS), offering zero downtime and disaster-recovery capabilities — a critical feature for maintaining the integrity of central government data. This new version is designed to further enhance accessibility and ease of doing business by introducing Android and iOS mobile applications, extending operational capability to field level. Furthermore, the capacity for real-time assessment and auto-generated MIS reports provides continuous, verifiable data, making the system inherently immune to opaque decision-making and supporting the online grievance module and 24×7 helpdesk.

The Path to Evidence-Based Governance

The success of Khanij Online is a powerful narrative of policy advocacy achieved through objective means. It critiques the historical systemic inefficiencies of manual procedures and advocates for a structural solution: digital architecture. The implementation of this platform establishes Chhattisgarh as a leader in digital governance and sustainable mineral resource management.

The future of governance hinges on the ability to integrate quantifiable data with administrative action. By strengthening the foundation of Khanij Online 2.0, the state ensures that all decisions regarding resource use, environmental impact, and social investment (via DMF) are guided by performance-measurement and accountability metrics.

This proactive approach fulfils the directive of promoting clean and efficient governance and guarantees that the state’s mineral wealth continues to drive the nation towards its shared developmental vision.

The writer is an IAS officer, Director, Geology and Mining, with additional charge of Managing Director, CG State Mineral Development Corporation, and Special Secretary; views are personal