Bhubaneswar: Coal Minister Union Pralhad Joshi said there was no mandatory provisions in the actions of mine and minerals (MMDR) (MMDR) to revise the tariff of coal royalty every three years even though Odisha has made demand for a long time.
In a recent reply to Rajya Sabha, Joshi said the level of coal royalty is 14% at this time, last revised on May 10, 2012.
“Section 9 (3) of the MMDR Law states that the center can increase or reduce the value where royalties must be Payed for each mineral provided the center will not increase royalties more than once for a period of three years, “he said.
Responding to the BJD Prasnana Acharya query about why the revised royalties have not been made since the last eight years, Yoshi said the study group was formed on July 21, 2014, for the purpose of checking the current issue of revision of royalty rates in coal and lignite.
The study group decided the formula after considering various factors.
This submits the report shows no change in the loyalty level.
The advice of the study group was accepted by the government, the Minister of Coal said, in a written reply.
The Odisha government, during the financial year 2020-21, has received the value of coal royalties during Rs 1,855 Crore, said the Union minister.
Being the main coal country, Odisha continued to demand the revision of coal royalties who alleged that they had faced severe losses due to non-revised royalties for years.
The Chairman of Minister of Naveen Patnaik has also increased this problem on an important national platform.
Naveen, during his meeting with Uni coal minister in December last year, also raised this problem.
The demand for the revision of coal royalty is also one of the main problems of BJD in power because the party also raised him in parliament several times.
The regional party also uses this problem to corner the center and justify central neglect claims.
Because coal is used for power production by heat-power plants, experts say increased royalties can also cause increased power tariffs.