The government of the eastern Indian state of Odisha will regularize opening of 60 iron ore and manganese ore mines before December this year, a government official said on Monday, November 9. The official stated that the state government has expedited scrutiny of revised mining plans and paper work involving these 60 mines which were closed down following an Indian Supreme Court order.
The Odisha government will complete regularizing the second renewals of expired mining leases by December this year and, subject to miners clearing payment of “net present value” of the mines due with the government, the mining operations could be resumed within three months of March 2016, the official said.
He also said that resumption of operations at the closed iron ore mines will result in an additional 40 million mt of production in one full-year of operation.
With the Indian Supreme Court earlier declaring second and third renewals of mining leases illegal leading to closure of mines in Odisha, iron ore production in the state decreased by 39 percent during the financial year 2014-15 to 47 million mt, compared to 78 million mt in the previous year.