CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has fixed December 1 for hearing on a PIL alleging persistent under-utilisation of Odisha’s iron ore mining capacity, resulting in large-scale revenue loss and socio-economic distress in mineral-bearing districts.
The PIL filed by Citizen’s Action Forum, a Bhubaneswar-based NGO, was first taken up on November 7, but when additional government advocate Debashis Tripathy representing the state sought time to obtain instructions, November 12 was fixed for listing of the matter. Again at the request of Tripathy on November 12, the matter was posted to November 17.
However, though listed on Monday the matter was adjourned to December 1, for hearing along with the state government’s reply. The two-judge bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice MS Raman had in its November 7 order noted that the petition raises significant questions relating to optimal utilisation of natural resources and the state’s statutory duties in regulating mining operations.
“An important issue is raised in the instant public interest litigation (PIL) relating to the optimal use and utilisation of the natural resources for which the mining leases have been executed by the government and there is a striking imbalance between the production and optimal use of the natural resources by the lessees,” the order said.
According to the petition, Odisha, home to 28 per cent of India’s iron ore reserves, has 63 valid iron ore mining leases with a cumulative environmental clearance (EC) capacity of 246 MTPA, but produced only 159 MTPA in 2024-25, roughly 64 per cent of capacity and just 1.6 per cent of the state’s total recorded geological resources.
The petitioner argued that it resulted in loses of around Rs 1,000 crore annually for the state in unrealised royalty, DMF and NMET contributions, besides indirect tax losses on GST, income tax, transport permits and other economic multipliers. This has aggravated unemployment and economic stagnation in Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Jajpur, severely impacting mining-dependent communities, the petitioner argued.