Odisha CM bats for Karlapat bauxite mine lease to OMC

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today requested Union Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to grant OMC (Odisha Mining Corporation) the lease and prospecting license of Karlapat bauxite mine.

OMC has already applied for the lease of 1848 hectares of explored area and prospecting license for 1157 hectares of explored area of the mine, informed Patnaik to Tomar in a high level meeting held at the Secretariat today. Both the leaders also discussed speeding up the renewal of pending mining leases. Only 80 out of 400 major mineral mines in Odisha are operational at present.

Besides, the Central and State Governments have in-principle approved the allocation of Pottangi mines for NALCO and prospecting license (PL) of Thakurani mines for SAIL.

“In-principle approval for allocation of Pottangi bauxite mines to NALCO has been made. This is critical to the expansion of Damanjori unit capacity by 1 million tonnes at an investment of around INR 6,000 crore,” an official press notification issued after the meeting read.

Further, setting up of DMF (District Mineral Foundations) in various districts of the state was also discussed.

At present, there are only 12 DMFs in Odisha. The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 makes it necessary for DMFs to be set up in districts where mining activities are carried out.