BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Thursday informed the Assembly that 23 mine owners are yet to pay a penalty of Rs 2,723 crore imposed on them by the Supreme Court for excess mining in violation of the mining plan and statutory clearances.
Replying to a question from BJD MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak, Steel and Mines Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena said the government imposed a penalty of Rs 17,576.39 crore on 133 mine owners for excess mining pursuant to the apex court’s order on August 2, 2017. Of the total amount, Rs 2,723 crore has not been paid by 23 lease holders.
The minister said certificate cases have been filed against the defaulting mining companies under Odisha Public Demands Recovery Act, 1962 after they failed to pay the penalty within a reasonable time. The Steel and Mines department has written to the district collectors concerned for taking necessary legal action to recover the pending amount.
The Supreme Court had set December 31, 2017 as the deadline to pay the fine for all miners who were found to have done excess mining beyond the the approved mining plan in violation of environmental and forest clearance as per the recommendation of Justice MB Shah commission report and on the basis of a report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) appointed by the court.
Sources in the department said the Keonjhar district administration had made an attempt in 2021 to confiscate movable and immovable property of six mine owners under Odisha Public Demands Recovery Act, 1962 after they failed to pay the penalty within a reasonable time. Of the six defaulters, five mine owners owed Rs 2,215 crore to the state government towards penalty.
However, the district administration failed to make any recovery or seize any property as the defaulters were in no position to pay the penalty after losing their mines which were auctioned after expiry of the lease period before March, 2020. After auction of the mines and transfer of all assets to the new leaseholders, the defaulting firms had no tangible assets that could be attached by the state government, the sources added.