‘Centre stayed ₹298 cr fine on mining firm’

Bhubaneswar: The Union ministry of mines has stayed the state government’s fine of Rs 298 crore on a mining company for alleged irregularities of downgrading iron ore quality in its mine in Sundargarh district, mines minister Prafulla Mallik told the state assembly on Monday.
The minister said after noticing that the mining lease holder showed the iron as lower grade, the government had served a demand notice towards differential royalty on the company last year.
The lease holder filed a revision application with the ministry of mines which stayed the order on December 16, 2022, he said.
Union coal and mines minister Pralhad Joshi, in a January 18 letter to Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, who had raised the issue of under-reporting, wrote that the state has said the under reporting was done particularly by some lease holders of auctioned mines.
While high-grade ore ) attracts export duty of 30% of its freight on board value, ore with less than 58% iron content attracts no export duty.