BHUBANESWAR: The Cabinet on Friday approved the proposal for the merger of the Directorate of Mines and the Directorate of Geology under the Steel and Mines department. An IAS or IFS cadre officer will head the new composite Directorate of Mines and Geology and will be assisted by four additional directors.
While both the additional director, Mining and additional director, Geology, will be from the respective existing cadres, the additional director, administration, will be from OAS cadre and additional director, finance will be from OFS cadre.
Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said the decision has been taken to make the field administration more efficient through effective supervision and control, to facilitate better coordination between Geology and Mining wings to achieve the target for geological exploration and mineral production and faster decision making.
This new administrative structure will facilitate sustainable mineral development through more effective and efficient mineral administration leading to augmentation of mineral revenue in the State, he added.
Besides, proposal of merger of Odisha Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (OMECL) with Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) was also approved. The Chief Secretary said this will expedite the exploration of new blocks, and will enable more blocks for auction leading to increase in revenue for the government.
After the merger, the OMC will get 14.816 acre of land of OMECL at Jagannath Prasad, Bhubaneswar which will be utilised for developing core library, research and development institution and other ancillary infrastructure related to exploration and mining activities. The cabinet also approved a proposal to increase the cadre strength of Odisha Secretariat Service (OSS) at Group A level by creation of 120 Group-A posts.