BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Saturday informed the Assembly that 40 mining blocks have been readied for auction during the current financial year.
In reply to debate on demand for grants of his department, Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallick said the government which auctioned five mineral blocks including three iron ore blocks as per Mineral Auction Rules, 2015 by May 2017 could not proceed with e-auction in 2017-18 due to restriction imposed by the Delhi High Court.
The Minister said 16 mineral blocks explored to G-2 level and 24 working leases expiring on March 31, 2020 have been readied for auction during the current fiscal.
Dispelling the apprehension in certain quarters that delay in the auction of iron ore mines, whose licences are expiring by March next year, could hit steel production the Minister said production and despatch of ores is on the rise.
The state had despatched 310.08 million tonnes of ores against production of 295.45 million tonnes in 2018-19.
Noting that the revenue collection from the mining sector has shown remarkable growth, Mallick said the Government has collected Rs 10,479.18 crore against a target of Rs 7,100 crore in the last fiscal.
The revenue growth has nearly doubled from Rs 5,310 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 10,479.18 crore.
The state could have earned more revenue had the Centre revised the royalty on coal from May 2015 and on iron ore from September 2017.
He criticised the Centre for not revising the royalty on coal and minerals every three years.
On the opposition demand for recovery of Rs 60,000 crore from mining leaseholder for excess mining beyond their approved plans, the Minister said the government has issued notice to 132 mine owners as per the directive of the Supreme Court rasing a demand of Rs 19,259 crore.
An amount of Rs 14,037 crore have been recovered so far and steps have been taken to attach property by filing certificate cases against those who have defaulted.
Asserting that the government is pursuing the policy of value addition, the Minister said the annual steel production of the state is 17.79 million tonnes against an installed capacity of 32.73 tonnes.