Bizodisha, Bhubaneswar, May 6, 2015 :

Strapped for funds for development, the Odisha government successfully managed to force the mine lease holders to cough up at lease Rs 700 crore post signing of lease deeds with 29 mining lease-holders.

The state government was little worried over the dip in the mining revenue which has a direct bearing on the welfare activities.

The state government has already inked supplementary lease deeds to facilitate reopening of 10 iron and manganese ore mines while it is in the process of signing the lease deeds with the remaining mines within two-three days.

“We are expecting to get around Rs.700 crore from the lessees in terms of stamp duty and registration fees. While 10 mining lease holders have already signed the lease deeds, others would follow in next two-three days,” said mines director Deepak Mohanty.

The mines, which have signed the lease deeds are owned by Rungta Group, including Rungta Mines, Feegrade & Company Private Ltd., and the rest are owned by Odisha Manganese & Minerals Ltd. (OMM) and Aryan Mining & Trading Corporation Ltd. (AMTC).

K.J.S Ahluwalia, Kaypee Enterprises, Kalinga Mining Corporation and K.N. Ram & Company are likely to sign the supplementary lease deeds soon.

Recently, the state government allowed reopening of 29 mines under the amended Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015. Of these 29 leases, 25 are for iron and manganese ore mines.

Te state government has allowed three months’ time to the lessees to sign supplementary lease deeds with certain conditions including payment of net present value (NPV) dues.