Odisha Government to Auction Iron Ore Mining Leases
News Click reported that in what seems to be a rare coincidence, the Odisha government’s administrative action and trade union action by units of the All India Trade Union Congress have begun virtually simultaneously on the issue of switch-over to auctioning of leases for iron ore mines from the existing allotment of leases on nomination basis. The AITUC units - Keonjhar Mines and Forest Workers’ Union and Sundargarh Mazdoor Union are just through their maiden action plan on the issue at Barbil in Keonjhar district a tiny town also referred to as the iron ore capital of Odisha. The first action was to submit a memorandum addressed to Odisha’s chief minister through Barbil’s tehsildar and the second programme was to hold a demonstration at Barbil. The two-day programme of KMFWU and SMU was in support of the demand that auctions of mining leases, as a result of which new ‘owners’ would emerge on the scene, should not mean shrinkage of job opportunities. Another demand is that the workers now involved in raising iron ore should continue. This objective should be borne in mind by the new ‘owners’ if they contemplate further mechanisation of operations, Ramkrushna Panda, president of KMFWU told NewsClick. Workers are apprehensive that new ‘parties’, who emerge successful in the auctions, might attempt to reduce the existing workforce, Maheshwar Rout, general secretary of SMU added.
The Odisha administration has set in motion the process to organise auctions for mining leases for as many as 24 iron ore mines. The leases in those cases, allotted on nomination basis, would terminate on March 31, 2020. The process is time-consuming, as it involves a good number of clearances – forest-related and environmental. In 2022, lease of another three-four mines would expire.
This will be the first instance of organised auctions in terms of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, which repealed an Ordinance. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on March 3, 2015, and by Rajya Sabha on March 20. It received the President’s assent on March 26 and was gazetted on March 27. It was made clear that it would be deemed to have come into force from January 12, 2015.
A major change under the auction process will be that a lease will be available straightaway for 50 years and on the expiry of that period, there will be no question of renewal. It will come up for re-auction. This applies to all minerals other than coal, lignite and atomic minerals. Under the existing arrangement, the lease tenure varies – 20 years to 30 years and maximum 50 years through renewals, according to Rout. A two-stage auction model – initially a technical bid and thereafter a financial bid— has been prescribed.
Anticipating delay in completion of the process, the Odisha government suggested to the ministries of environment and forest, and mines that to avoid disruption in ore raising operations, the state government may be given leases on a temporary basis for two years. By this time, the entire process would be through and then, the state government would transfer the leases to the successful bidders. The Centre does not think that the suggestion can be acted upon without an enabling provision in the relevant Act/s through an amendment. A hint to this effect was given by Odisha’s director of mines Dipak Mohanty when asked by NewsClick. Mohanty said that he was hopeful of the Centre’s early decision.
Source : News Click