BHUBANESWAR: After bringing in policy measures to curb illegal mining of minor minerals, the state government is all set to make rules to bring uniformity in sand price across the state.
A day after the state cabinet gave its assent to the a proposal to amend the Odisha Minor Mineral Concession (OMMC) Rules, 2016, to introduce an e-lottery system for allotment of minor mineral quarry leases, including sand, Steel and Minister minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena said the government is going to implement minimum support price (MSP) for sand to break the monopoly of leaseholders and mafia for arbitrary hike in sand prices.
The state government has decided to discontinue the existing e-auction system for leasing out of quarry for mineral under sairat sources (sand, morrum and stone) and replace it with an e-lottery process for granting mining leases. The new system will expedite allotment and operationalisation of minor mineral sources and mitigate the supply-demand gap with reasonable cost, the minister said and added that maximum rate capping provision for minor mineral has been brought in the revised rules.
He further said that the maximum sale price of minor minerals from sairat sources will be fixed after taking into account the royalty, surface rent and contribution to the district mineral foundation (DMF) fund. Storage licenses will be made mandatory for stocking sand and other minor minerals while unauthorised storage will be treated as illegal and attract penalty.
The e-lottery system is intended to enhance transparency and efficiency in the allocation process, streamline the supply chain of minor minerals and address prevailing supply-demand gaps, he said.
The government has the authority under the new rule to take 40 per cent of a minor mineral block and sell it to the public in case of a shortage which prevents any single lease holder from having a monopoly.
However, objecting to the e-lottery system for grant of minor mineral lease, senior BJD leader and Nayagarh MLA Arun Sahoo said the move is to benefit BJP leaders at the cost of the state exchequer. In an auction process, government recovers best prices but e-lottery will promote mafia raj, he said.
The OMMC Rule, 2016, came into effect after abolition of the rule framed in 2004 as it lost relevance after amendment of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act which came into force in 2015 and the subsequent inclusion of several major minerals as minor minerals by the Centre.