DEBADURLLAV HARICHANDAN, OP
Bhubaneswar: Almost seven years after the submission of a report on illegal mining in Odisha by the Justice MB Shah Commission in the Supreme Court, the state government is yet to recover a staggering Rs 2,065 crore from defaulters who inflicted hazardous environmental and forest damages, Minister for Steel and Mines Bibhuti Bhushan Jena told the Assembly, Thursday.
Elaborating, Jena said that while a cumulative violation to the tune of Rs 1.81 lakh crore was flagged in the report, the state government has so far managed to collect Rs 1.61 lakh crore from the defaulters. In response to Athagarh BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain’s question, the minister remarked that Rs 789 crore is yet to be collected for violation of environmental standards. “In 2018, the government took action against 23 defaulters for unrecovered amount to the tune of Rs 2,719 crore under the Orissa Public Demands Act, 1962”, he added.
The UPA government in 2010 had constituted a commission of inquiry, led by Justice MB Shah, to inquire into the alleged illegal mining in the state, particularly the mining of iron and manganese. The matter then picked momentum, snowballing into a major controversy, with many mining lease holders challenging it in the apex court. The Shah Commission, in its report on illegal mining in Odisha, highlighted unauthorised extraction, environmental violations, and a nexus between officials and mining firms. The Commission had noted large-scale deforestation, water pollution, and damage to tribal livelihoods. Regulatory bodies, including the government of Odisha and Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), were found negligent in the Commission’s findings.
Meanwhile, in response to Swain’s question on the sudden dip in mining revenues in 2022-23, Jena said due to the export duty imposed on iron ore pellets, the revenues saw a minor reduction. Reportedly, the state earned revenue of Rs 42,791 crore in 2023- 24, while till February 2025, it has posted a collection of Rs 32,242 crore.
Notably, the state logged a revenue collection of Rs 34,188 crore in 2021-22, which slipped to Rs 22,683 crore in 2022-23.