Odisha seeks Centre’s nod to allocate Karlapat mines to OMC

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday requested Union Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to expedite the process of granting mining lease and prospecting license mines in favour of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for Karlapat bauxite.

Holding a meeting, the Chief Minister informed that OMC has already applied for mining lease for explored area (1848 ha) and prospecting license for the unexplored area (1157 ha).

He also stressed on greater participation of national PSUs MCL, Nalco and SAIL in discharging corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Tomar has assured that Nalco would provide 50,000 metric tonne aluminium for proposed aluminium park at Angul.

Meanwhile, Tomar asked the Odisha government to expedite auction of mines in the state and set up district mineral foundation (DMF) in all the mineral bearing districts.

He also said that the state government had assured him to grant bauxite mines to Nalco, a national PSU.