Odisha may only receive half of Rs 17,500 crore compensation from miners before the Dec 31 deadline
, ET Bureau|
Dec 30, 2017, 06.51 AM IST
BHUBANESWAR: Over the next two days, operators of iron ore and manganese mines in Odisha are expected to pay about Rs 8,000 crore, or over half of what the Supreme Court had ordered a bunch of them to deposit with the state government as compensation for environmental violations.
On August 2, the top court ordered the companies to deposit Rs 17,576 crore by December 31 against environmental violations during 2000-2011. While private miners scurry to meet the deadline, central government-owned enterprises are reluctant and some claim that they aren't liable to pay.
"As of this (Friday) evening, Rs 6,499 crore has been deposited with us," Odisha's director of mines, Deepak Mohanty, told ET.
The amount includes Rs 2,178 crore from state government-owned Orissa Mining Corporation, Rs 614 crore from Tata Steel and about Rs 1,800 crore from the Rungta Group's firms. The Supreme Court on Friday also denied the Aditya Birla Group's Essel Mining more time to pay the Rs 1,102 crores it has been charged.
Mesco Steel, Serajudin, KJS Ahluwalia and the steel ministry's loss making firm Orissa Minerals Development Corporation had not made any deposits until the time Mohanty spoke to ET.
Speaking on behalf of the Eastern Zone Mining Association, its general secretary Prabodh Mohanty said he expected most of the 46 operating iron ore and manganese mines in the state to pay a total of about Rs 8,000 crore before the December 31 deadline.
The rest are likely to pay or not, depending on how much they stand to lose by having their operations stay shut from January 1.
Meanwhile, Steel Authority of India has decided to challenge in the Odisha High Court a separate Rs 47.5 crore claim from the state government against it for violating permits of the Indian Bureau of Mines and Pollution Control Board at its Bolani mine.
The Revision Authority at the Centre on Friday granted a stay on similar penalties imposed on some private firms, who had the SC approval to contest these charges.
SAIL has in its petition argued that "Odisha lacked legislative and executive competence to demand such compensations". Moreover, the August 2 'Common Cause Judgment' the government was citing was "per incuriam (or characterised by lack of due regard to the law or the facts) and not the law declared under Article 141 of the Constitution", it said.
Ironically while the PSU now contests the court's interpretation of Section 2l (5) of the MMDR Act, it is the central government's affidavit, taking just the opposite position, that miners blame for the current predicament.
"The 2 August judgement of the SC is now the law of the land if anyone wants to challenge this it is their foolishness," said a senior Odisha government official, asking not to be named.
In reply to the Odisha government's show-cause notice of Rs 20,169 crore, Coal India subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields is believed to have argued that the Coal bearing Areas (acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 absolved it from being held to the same scrutiny. Meanwhile, Jharkhand has issued similar notices to Coal India.
On August 2, the top court ordered the companies to deposit Rs 17,576 crore by December 31 against environmental violations during 2000-2011. While private miners scurry to meet the deadline, central government-owned enterprises are reluctant and some claim that they aren't liable to pay.
"As of this (Friday) evening, Rs 6,499 crore has been deposited with us," Odisha's director of mines, Deepak Mohanty, told ET.
The amount includes Rs 2,178 crore from state government-owned Orissa Mining Corporation, Rs 614 crore from Tata Steel and about Rs 1,800 crore from the Rungta Group's firms. The Supreme Court on Friday also denied the Aditya Birla Group's Essel Mining more time to pay the Rs 1,102 crores it has been charged.
Mesco Steel, Serajudin, KJS Ahluwalia and the steel ministry's loss making firm Orissa Minerals Development Corporation had not made any deposits until the time Mohanty spoke to ET.
Speaking on behalf of the Eastern Zone Mining Association, its general secretary Prabodh Mohanty said he expected most of the 46 operating iron ore and manganese mines in the state to pay a total of about Rs 8,000 crore before the December 31 deadline.
The rest are likely to pay or not, depending on how much they stand to lose by having their operations stay shut from January 1.
Meanwhile, Steel Authority of India has decided to challenge in the Odisha High Court a separate Rs 47.5 crore claim from the state government against it for violating permits of the Indian Bureau of Mines and Pollution Control Board at its Bolani mine.
The Revision Authority at the Centre on Friday granted a stay on similar penalties imposed on some private firms, who had the SC approval to contest these charges.
SAIL has in its petition argued that "Odisha lacked legislative and executive competence to demand such compensations". Moreover, the August 2 'Common Cause Judgment' the government was citing was "per incuriam (or characterised by lack of due regard to the law or the facts) and not the law declared under Article 141 of the Constitution", it said.
Ironically while the PSU now contests the court's interpretation of Section 2l (5) of the MMDR Act, it is the central government's affidavit, taking just the opposite position, that miners blame for the current predicament.
"The 2 August judgement of the SC is now the law of the land if anyone wants to challenge this it is their foolishness," said a senior Odisha government official, asking not to be named.
In reply to the Odisha government's show-cause notice of Rs 20,169 crore, Coal India subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields is believed to have argued that the Coal bearing Areas (acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 absolved it from being held to the same scrutiny. Meanwhile, Jharkhand has issued similar notices to Coal India.
