By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 29, 2018: Odisha, which has mopped up about Rs 5364 crore at the end of last fiscal, under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) – the highest in the country, has utilized only 816 crore i.e less than 15 per cent of the fund.

The latest figures from the union mines ministry indicate that the mineral rich state ranked seventh in terms of implementation of projects under DMF. Though the state government has sanctioned about Rs 4000 core, only Rs 8.16 billion of the overall proceeds has been utilized.

DMF are trusts set up in the districts affected by mining, meant to be used for the welfare of the local population. Mining firms contribute to these non-profit bodies.

Incidentally, Chhattisgarh topped among other states with a utilisation rate of 76 per cent followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh with utilisation rate of 28 per cent and 26 per cent respectively. Tamil Nadu, Karantaka and Telanagana have lackluster spending rate of below 10 per cent.

Project Monitoring Units (PMUs) have been established in the state’s top five mining districts- Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Angul, Jharsuguda and Jajpur. These PMUs are being managed by top consultants like Earnest Young (EY) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC