41% growth in Odisha's minor mineral revenue

BHUBANESWAR: The revenue collection from minor mineral sources in Odisha has registered a growth of 41.47 per cent (pc) The Revenue and Disaster Management department has collected Rs 962 crore in 2020-21 against Rs 680 crore in 2019-20.

Around 506 new minor mineral sources, including 12 large river sand beds with an area more than 50 acres, were identified and brought into the process of operation. Principal Secretary of the department Bishnupada Sethi said although Covid-19 pandemic impacted economic activities, the growth was recorded due to sustained endeavour by the minor mineral administration.

“The districts were given a target of Rs 1000 crore revenue to be collected. Efforts are on to put in place technological interventions for sustainable and scientific mining of minor minerals,” he said. While technology-based approaches have been adopted for information management and monitoring, the department has been stressing on optimisation of exploitation in a scientific and sustainable manner.

Sethi said steps were taken to address the scarcity of raw materials for development works, prevent theft and illegal mining with the coordination of stakeholders, including the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and Directorate of Geology, which helped clear the bottlenecks in obtaining environmental clearances and approval of mining plans.

While 2,772 mining plans were approved by the authorised officers under the Directorate, the SEIAA had 52 meetings and granted 1,000 environmental clearances. As many as 1,546 sources were in operation by the end of the year.