Most States failing in tracking mining operations, says report

21 Oct 2022 , 08:32 AM

According to a survey, no state has begun the system of collecting data connected to mining operations and failed to identify production loss and validate the mineral output claimed by miners, with the exception of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Additionally, according to the Natural Resource Accounting study, states including Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal were unable to provide information on major mineral extraction.

According to the report created by the advisory board for government accounting standards under the direction of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, states like Gujarat, Kerala, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal were unable to provide data on the extraction of major minerals, so their accounts had to be based solely on production data.

Additionally, Madhya Pradesh’s asset accounts were based solely on dispatch figures because the state lacked both extraction and production data.

The report stated that as a result, “these states remained oblivious of the output loss shown and claimed by the lessees.”

The royalty is paid on the delivered minerals, hence the bigger the production loss, the higher the income leakage.

Due to these system flaws, instances of erroneous reports of output loss also went unnoticed.

Only Chhattisgarh could give a precise account of resource extraction, output, and distribution, as well as the production loss, which was under 5%.

The majority of states lack thorough maps of their mineral resources.

It stated that states should be encouraged to create mineral maps as this would be the first step in managing mineral resources effectively.

Additionally, money has been set up under the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) for conducting the surveys.

According to the MMDR Act of 1957, there is no system in place for the granting of premits or transit passes for coal on the condition that royalty payments are made in advance.

The production and distribution of coal from the mine head are not under the mining authorities’ supervision or control. The employees of the mines department are not involved in the lessees’ system of providing permits/passes or weigh-bridges for measurement, according to the statement.

Additionally, the department lacks weighbridges or checkpoints for monitoring coal dispatch.

Only the returns submitted by the lessees are used to assess revenue.

The state government may take the necessary steps to set up a control and monitoring system and may also investigate any instances of resource theft that result in a loss of money for the state exchequer.

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