Odisha to auction 6 more mines

Bhubaneswar, Sep 21 (IANS)  By the end of October this year the Odisha government has planned to auction six more mines, said an official on Thursday.

The mines to be auctioned includes four iron ore mines, and one each of graphite and limestone.

The decision to auction the mines was taken at the State Facilitation Committee meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here.

Taking a project wise review, Padhi directed the departments concerned to expedite the process for issue of various clearances and approvals for starting the mining operations.

Required tasks against each project were identified and the Chief Secretary set time lines for completion of the tasks by the departments concerned, while Collectors and Divisional Forest Officers were also asked to facilitate the process expeditiously.

The progress of five mining lease projects --Ghoraburhani-Sagasahi iron ore block of Sundargarh district, Kottametta limestone block in Malkangiri district, Laserda-Pacheri manganese ore block in Keonjhar district, Kalamanga west iron block in Keonjhar and Sundargarh district and Netrabandha iron block of Sundargarh district were reviewed.

The issues relating to forest clearances, environmental clearances, DGPS survey, approval of mining plan, wild life management plan, land acquisition, organization of Gram Sabha, land mutation, railway siding approval, working permission were discussed in the meeting.

"It is the responsibility of the state government to ensure that mines do not face operational problems and get all the necessary clearances," Padhi said.