The proposed national mineral policy has outraged the people of Orissa, even before it is yet to be officially announced. Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik has already declared that the proposed policy would upset the federal structure of the country.
The group of ministers (GoM) has reportedly accepted the recommendations of the Hoda Committee and it is expected that the Centre will soon announce the policy. The government is expected to incorporate necessary amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 to give the required legislative power for implementation of the policy.
The Hoda Committee?s suggestion to abolish Section 11(5) of the MM(D & R) Act 1957 will sabotage Orissa?s plan for industrialisation. The state government has lined up investments of Rs 4 lakh crore in mineral-based industries promising captive mines. With the abolition of the Section, the state would not be in a position to provide captive linkages to the industries. Under the provision of this Act, the state governments have the right to recommend the cases of applicants who want to set up industries within their states by rejecting the claims of others.
If this section is abolished, then the Centre can allot mines to anyone without value addition, says Patnaik. According to him the firms will put up their plants in far away Haryana and Punjab and take minerals for their plants from Orissa.
Asserting that it is the state governments that are custodians of minerals located within their boundaries, the chief minister says any attempt to take away this right by the Centre is unconstitutional. The recommendation that there should be a seamless transition from reconnaissance permit to prospecting license and mining lease is also not acceptable.
??This restricts the existing powers of the state government under rule 5(1), 12 (1) of Mineral Concession Rules 1960 and grant of PL/ML under Section 11(1) of the MM(D&R) Act??, says state steel and mines minister, Padmanabha Behera. ??The state government should be free to recommend mineral concession applications of those who plan to put up mineral-based industry within their jurisdiction or propose to do so??, he says.
Orissa, which wants export of iron ore to be phased out, feels the Hoda panel?s recommendation that ore export should be freely allowed for at least the next 10 years will jeopardise the state government’s effort to motivate companies like Posco and Mittal Steel to set up plants.
Patnaik is now contemplating organising all mineral-bearing states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Rajasthan to fight jointly against the Centre’s move to curtail the power of the states over major mineral resources.