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The Justice MB Shah Commission on illegal mining in Jharkhand has blamed the State Government for allowing miners to operate for long periods — decades even — without proper permission.
The panel said 40 iron and manganese ore mines in the state have been operating under a “deemed extension”, which means that the stamp duty payable at the time of renewal of lease has not been paid, causing a huge revenue loss to the State. The deemed extension was the result of the lack of timely decisions to renew the mining leases. The mining leases belong to, among others, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Tata Steel, Rungta Mines, Singhbhum Minerals Co, Orissa Manganese and Minerals Pvt Ltd, General Produce Ltd, and Rameshwar Jute Mills.
In its four-volume first report on illegal mining in Jharkhand — BusinessLine has seen it — the Commission said the loss to State revenue would run into “hundreds of crores”, but did not give the exact figures. It stated that this was misuse of the Mineral Concession Rules and also bred corruption in the State.
Widespread corruption“Unreasonable delay has resulted in widespread corruption that too when minerals were exported at high prices during the China boom,” it noted.
The report also says that 18 of the 40 leases were being operated without any environmental approvals.
According to the norms set by the Ministry of Mines in 2011, “deemed extensions” require fresh green approvals (environmental and forest clearances).
The Commission said the Mineral Concession Rules should be amended to decide on renewal applications. It said such applications should be made 24 months before the date of expiry of the lease. At present it is 12 months.
Besides, the decision on the first renewal application should be taken within one year of the date of expiry of the lease, the second renewal within two years, and the third, if required, in three years.
If the timeline is not met, the Commission suggests it should be taken as a “deemed refusal”. It also suggests formation of a committee to take these decisions.
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