NEW DELHI: Justice MB Shah Commission report tabled in Parliament in August first week but kept secret by the government has exposed massive irregularities in the Iron Ore & Manganese mining in Jharkhand to the tune of a whopping Rs 14,000 crore. The voluminous report details the painstaking probe into the illegal mining racket involving a nexus of private players and government officials. It also reveals the internal feud within Manmohan Singh’s cabinet over the grant of licenses to private mining companies.
The investigation looking into the mining activities since 1994 in the mineral-rich state said that “an approximate quantity of 11,92,70,333.413 mt iron ore and an approximate quantity of 1,38,08,96,398 of manganese ore worth Rs 138 crore is extracted illegally and without lawful authority. The said amount should be recovered from the lessees (Mining Companies) under Section 21(5) of the MM (DR) Act, 1957. Report has mentioned that “out of 42 mining leases in the state, 18 mining leases of iron ore/Manganese are not having environmental clearance.”
The report further stated that iron ore was extracted at least in eight mining leases since 1993-94 to 2012-13 but no environment clearance has been obtained till date. In two mining leases, manganese ore was extracted since 1994 to 2012-13 without environmental clearance.
Shah Commission said that persons in possession of mines have extracted iron ore and manganese without obtaining environment clearance to earn super profits by evading applicable taxes. “In such cases, the lessees (mine owner) and middlemen have earned billions of rupees at the cost of national non-renewal assets,” the report said.
Invoking the July 2013 Uttarakhand natural calamity due to huge deforestation, Shah Commission observed that despite this (the calamity), the government had granted Stage I approval to JSW Steel owned by Sajjan Jindal for mining of iron ore in the dense Ankura reserved forest area of West Singhbhum. “Would it not be a sin to destroy such dense forest?,” Shah Commission questioned.
THE INFIGHTING OVER THE MINING LEASE
Shah Commission report has suggested that the move triggered infighting within the UPA cabinet as Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh objected to diversion of forest land to private companies and had complained in writing to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In his letter dated February 6, 2013 to the then Prime Minister, Jairam said that the move will hurt Saranda development plan in the region which was earlier dominated by the Maoists.
“I was most distressed to learn today that the forest advisory committee (FAC) of the MoEF&F has just given its permission for the diversion of 512.43 hectares of forest land in Saranda for Iron ore mining by Jindal Steel and Power and for the diversion of another 998.70 hectares of forest land for mining of Iron and Manganese Ore by JSW Steel,” Jairam wrote to PM.
Jairam’s letter was placed before the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI). It was turned down. However, in a speaking order enclosed in the report, Jayanthi Natrajan criticised Jairam Ramesh’s letter to the (former) PM saying that Jairam himself as Environment Minister had granted mining lease to private companies and was then resorting to complaints.
“My predecessor Jairam Ramesh accorded the forest clearance on 23/02/2011 for diversion of 117.0059 ha of forest land in the very same Saranda Forest division in favour of another private user agency namely Usha Martin Pvt Ltd for Vijay Iron Ore project...It would be highly discriminatory for MoEF to give forest clearance to one private agency and reject it for another in very same Saranda area,” Jayanthi speaking order stated.
Taking a dig at Jairam for overruling the environmental concerns, Jayanthi said that he had approved the forest clearance for Chiria mines in 2011 rejecting FAC concerns. This irked Jairam who again wrote to the then PM saying that he allowed government owned SAIL on very special considerations. “It was never my intention to allow SAIL as a precedent for other companies to establish their operations here,” Jairam clarified to PM on July 3, 2013.
The commission slammed the UPA regime for justifying the mining licenses on the pretext of shortage of Iron ore in the country saying it is factually incorrect. Report said there are about 626 iron ore mines with the production capacity of 31, 08, 05, 452 mtpa and the present requirement of iron ore for the steel production in the country is approximately 150 mt for all the purposes. The commission has recommended further investigation from an independent agency and has demanded action against those responsible.