BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday sought greater support from the Centre to accelerate mining-led growth in the state and urged speedy forest and environment clearances for auctioned mineral blocks.
In a meeting with Union Coal and Mines minister G Kishan Reddy at Lok Seva Bhawan, Majhi requested support of the ministry for allocation of the Sashubohumali bauxite block and Thakurani iron ore block in favour of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).
He also requested the Union minister for faster development of rail and port infrastructure to improve mineral evacuation and reduce logistics costs. He proposed the formulation of a policy framework for scientific backfilling of abandoned coal mines using fly ash to tackle environmental concerns.
The chief minister further sought access to advanced mineral analysis technologies for strengthening exploration and resource assessment capabilities. Informing the growing contribution of Odisha to India’s mineral economy, the chief minister said that the state produced around 471 million tonne of minerals in 2025-26 and generated nearly `46,000 crore in mining revenue.
Responding to the demands, Reddy said that many mining-sector challenges require coordinated action across ministries dealing with railways, ports, forests and environment. He proposed a high-level meeting involving all central ministries concerned, and the state government to resolve pending issues through an integrated approach.
The discussions also focused on improving living standards of people in mining-affected regions. Both sides emphasised the implementation of government welfare schemes in saturation mode by aligning central and state programmes with district mineral foundation (DMF) resources and corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.
Majhi informed Reddy about the state government’s CM Sampada initiative for converging multiple funding streams to bring about comprehensive development in mineral-bearing districts.
Senior officials from the state government, Union Mines ministry, major mining public sector undertakings, including Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, NLC India Limited, Singareni Collieries Company Limited, National Aluminium Company Limited and Indian Bureau of Mines, participated in the meeting.
