Refuting the State Government’s allegation that it had failed to detect irregularities in mining activities in Odisha, Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) on Wednesday said excess production of ore beyond

The hefty penalty of Rs 70,000 crore on excess ore extraction that has caught many a mine lessee off guard is poised to swell further with the state government readying to send showcause notices to 44 more lessees.

A high-powered committee of the state government had found 104 lessees guilty of raising ore beyond IBM (Indian Bureau of Mines) ratified mining plan. The mining department has already slapped showcause notices on 60 miners in Joda and Koira sectors. The penalty on the balance 44 miners has been worked out at around Rs 5,000 crore.

State sends notices to Essel Mining, Tata Steel, Sarda Mines and others

Scrutinises mineral trade details of other three mines

The Justice M B Shah Commission of enquiry on Thursday sought details on output and raising permission of Tensa iron ore mines belonging to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) in Koira mining circle during its first day of field trip. During mining lease record verification process, the commission members had found some mismatch between its actual raising area details and map shown on Google Earth.

The Union Ministry of Mines has asked the State Government to submit a status report on setting up of a special anti-extortion and anti-money laundering cell to prevent the nexus between illegal mi

The commission during its recent visit to the state from October 3-11 scrutinised records of 81 mines out of a total of 186 mining leases

The Justice M B Shah Commission of enquiry which is set to visit Odisha for the third time from October 31 will take up field verification of select mines in Koira sector in Sundergarh district. “During its last visit, the Shah Commission had confined its probe to checking file records of all iron ore and manganese ore lessees. This time, they have communicated to us regarding their plan to visit a few mines in Koira circle. The probe panel will take up field verification during October 31-November 3,” said a senior steel & mines department official.

The Joda mining circle under the state steel and mines department has issued show cause notices to 42 iron ore and manganese mines lease holders over last two weeks in excess raising cases and has urged them to take steps to return the amount of money they have gained by selling the excess mineral raised.

It had sent notices to around 20 miners in August this year on the same charges. In the second phase, the government has picked up 42 more miners this month, including Aditya Birla Group company controlled Essel Mining, Tata Steel and state-run miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).

Five mining leases with a combined capacity of 2.56 mt are waiting for final approval to restart mining in Bellary & Chitradurga districts

The resumption of iron ore mining in Karnataka is likely to be delayed as none of the Category A mines is able to secure all statutory approvals stipulated by the Supreme Court. The apex court had lifted ban on 18 Category A mines to resume mining subject to fulfilment of stringent conditions in its order passed on September 3. The order followed the acceptance of a report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which had recommended relaxation of the prohibition as they had done the least harm to the environment.

The team has so far completed investigating records of 65 mines and is expected to verify about 20 odd papers

The five member team of Justice M B Shah Commission of enquiry, which has been in Odisha since October 3 to probe illegal mining, has detected massive irregularities during scrutinisation of mining records and other documents. Most of the irregularities include conducting mining operation without statutory clearances such as forest and environment.

Mineral Enterprises, the only company to secure all clearances, suspends ops

Bangalore-based Mineral Enterprises Limited (MEL) has suspended mining operations at its iron ore mine in Chitradurga district after its lease period expired on October 6. The company has managed to produce 35,000 tonnes in one month. MEL was the first company to get all the statutory clearances to restart mining in Karnataka. With the suspension of mining by MEL, the mining has once again come to a standstill in Karnataka as 11 other mines in the Category A are yet to secure all statutory approvals.