By IANS,
Raipur: A total of Rs.220.9 crore permit fee for transportation of minerals is outstanding to the Chhattisgarh government from the 10 companies operating in the state, the assembly was told Thursday.
Till Feb 15, a sum of Rs.4.14 crore was outstanding as permit fee from four establishments for the mineral extracted from the forest areas of the state, Forest Minister Vikram Usendi said in a written reply to a question by opposition Congress member Mohammed Akbar.
He said that during 2012-13, the amount collected as permission fee for mined minerals and their transportation from leased establishments were – from Hyderabad-headquartered public sector NMDC Ltd. Rs.30,16,30,938), from Godavari Power, Raipur (Rs.17,51,908), SECL, Bilaspur (Rs.79,34,531), OCL India Ltd, Rajgangapur (Rs.1 lakh).
Usendi said that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its 2009-10 report had raised objections regarding non-collection of permit fee and non-issuance of permits during transportation of minerals from the converted forest land.
As per the information available from the mineral resources department, between June 2002 to Sep 30, 2012, a preliminary estimate had been made for collection of permit fee based on the amount of minerals transported from reserved and conserved forest land.
As per estimates made by the department, an amount of Rs.144.62 crore was pending as permit fee for transportation of 20.66 crore tonne of iron ore by NMDC.
The outstanding permit fee of other companies and individuals for transportation of minerals are — Sarda Energy, Raipur (Rs.52.30 lakh), Bhilai Steel Plant (Rs.31.54 crore), Jeevanlal Jain, Bhanupratappur (Rs.10.49 lakh), Godavari Power, Raipur (Rs.1.13 crore), Jaiswal Nico, Raipur (Rs.76.28 lakh), OCL India, Rajgangapur (Rs.17.64 lakh), Monnet Ispat , Raipur (Rs.1.51 crore), Prakash Industries, New Delhi (Rs.11.6 lakh) and SECL, Bilaspur (Rs.40.40 crore), Usendi said.