Bhubaneswar, April 2: The Odisha government has failed to take effective action to recover a fine of Rs 3,966.34 crore (including interest) imposed by the Supreme Court for illegal mining in the state, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) presented in the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday.
The CAG's performance audit report on the management of Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBDAC) funds for the year ending March 2022 revealed that in August 2017, the Supreme Court had directed the Odisha government to impose fines on iron ore and manganese mining operations conducted without the necessary Environment Clearance (EC) or Forest Clearance (FC), or both. The court ordered that 100% of the price of the illegally mined minerals be compensated by the mining lessees.
The report indicated that the Supreme Court had instructed that the amounts due from all mining lessees be deposited with the OMBDAC by December 31, 2017. Following this, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), appointed by the SC, recommended on January 17, 2018, the collection of ₹19,174.38 crore from 131 mining leaseholders who had violated EC and/or FC regulations.
However, upon reviewing records from the Director of Mines and Geology, the CAG found that, as of December 2017, only 82 of the 131 mining leaseholders had paid ₹8,289.87 crore, leaving a balance of ₹10,884.51 crore still unrecovered.
In response to the SC's further directives to take coercive action, the Director of Steel and Mines, Odisha, instructed district collectors in Sundargarh, Keonjhar, and Mayurbhanj in February 2018 to initiate certificate cases under the Odisha Public Demand Recovery Act, 1962. By January 2023, the government had managed to recover ₹7,371.12 crore, which included interest for delayed payments.
