Task force to check mineral theft in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Jun 30: The Orissa government has constituted a task force and planned to set up squads to check sharp rise in the theft of minerals,particularly iron ores, Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabh Behera has said.

Replying to the debate on the budgetary grants for his department in the Assembly yesterday, Mr Behera said the boom in iron ore trade in the international market had led to the rise in its theft in the state.

He said as many as 368 vehicles had been seized in the state with 4.70 lakh tonnes of minerals, mostly iron ore, valued at Rs 2.12 crore during last year.

The state government,he said, was determined to expedite various action programmes to check the theft of the minerals.

Referring to Opposition allegations of handing over mines to the industrial houses in the name of setting up of industries, Mr Behera said in the past the Congress government had sanctioned mines to these houses without even setting up any industry. But his government had made it a point that unless the industry go for value addition no mines would be allotted.

He said the policy of value addition had led to the signing of as many as 46 MoUs for setting up of steel plants in the state, of which 25 have already started commercial production.

While four companies had signed the MoU without iron ore linkage, seven have iron linkages with them. Orissa, Mr Behera said, was in favour of abolition of export of ores from the state. The chief minister had also demanded that the export of minerals from the state be gradually stopped.

The minister said last year the state produced 61 million tonnes of iron ore of which 17 million tonne were exported. He also allayed the apprehension of the members that the deposits of ores in the state would soon exhaust in view of the large number of MoUs being inked with the industrial houses for setting up of steel plants.

Mr Behera said the state had a total deposit of 5371 million tonnes of ore reserves only at a depth of 25 to 30 meters.

On demand for formulating a new mining policy, Mr Behera said it was almost in final stage but the government was waiting for the implementation of Hoda Committee report and the national mining policy for a proper coordination between that of the Centre and state.

The minister also said the state government was thinking to take over the mines from the industrial houses, who have failed to set up any plant in the state.

He also told the house that the government had asked the industrial houses to absorb at least 75 per cent of their work force from Orissa.

UNI