Odisha to auction more mines to meet revenue target

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government is in the process of auctioning more mines to meet the mining royalty collection target during the 2015-16 fiscal.

Chief Secretary A P Padhi has asked the steel and mines department to prepare more mines for auction.

“The chief secretary has directed the steel and mines department to take steps for the auction of more mines this year,” said Director of Mines Deepak Mohanty.

The government, which had set a target of mining revenue collection at Rs 6,000 crore during 2015-16, could generate Rs 3,650 crore by the end of November.

“It appears difficult to collect remaining Rs 2,350 crore in three months,” an official said.

While only 60 percent of the target has been achieved so far, the state may not collect the remaining 40 per cent in next three months, the official said.

While taking stock of the mining revenue collection, the chief secretary asked the officials to complete the necessary survey works at the earliest and prepare at least four-fives iron ore mines for auction.

The state government had recently issued notification of one iron ore mine in Sundargarh district for auction.

The chief secretary stressed on the collection of mines revenue and transparency in the sector. Padhi advised the officials to prepare an action plan for mines production and take stock of it at regular intervals.