BHUBANESWAR: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the State government for short receipt of mining revenue of Rs 371.59 crore and non-inclusion of sizing charges in run-of-mine (RoM) price of coal during assessment of royalty, resulting in short levy of Rs 124.26 crore.Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act-1957 provides that the holder of a mining lease shall pay royalty in respect of any mineral removed or consumed by him from a lease area at the specified rate.
As per the 2012 notification of the Ministry of Coal, royalty on coal is leviable at the flat rate of 14 per cent (pc) ad-valorem on the price of coal as reflected in the invoice excluding taxes, levies and other charges, said the report tabled in Odisha Assembly recently.If the top size of coal is limited to 100 millimetre (mm), processed through manual or mechanical means, the sizing charge was Rs 79 per tonne till August 31, 2017. However, the charge was revised to Rs 87 per tonne thereafter for RoM coal, the CAG said in its report on revenue sector for the year ended March 2019.RoM coal is the coal obtained directly from the mines in its natural and unprocessed state.
Further, provisions of MMDR Amendment Act, 2015 provides that the holder of a mining lease, is required to pay two pc of the royalty paid to the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) and 30 pc of the royalty to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) under intimation to the circle mining office concerned.On test check of records (April 2018 to March 2019) in the offices of deputy directors of mines (DDMs) of Rourkela, Sambalpur and Talcher circles, it was noticed that the DDMs assessed royalty on coal dispatched at the prescribed rate of 14 pc of the price of RoM coal.
Sizing charges, however, were not included in price of the coal though the same were collected by the lessees from customers and reflected in the sale invoices. “It was noticed that the lessee, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, had processed and dispatched 1,059.59 lakh MT of sized coal of less than 100 mm size from 15 mines during 2017-18 and paid royalty at the rate applicable to ROM coal. Thus, non-inclusion of sizing charges in the price of the coal in assessment resulted in short levy of royalty worth Rs 124.26 crore,” the report said.This also resulted in short realisation of contribution to DMF fund of Rs 37.28 crore and Rs 2.49 crore to NMET.
Short receipt
Rs 371.59 cr mining revenue
Rs 124.26 cr royalty
Rs 37.28 cr contribution to DMF fund
Rs 2.49 cr to NMET