Odisha iron ore mining capacity 'underutilisation' claim: HC seeks govt affidavit by Jan 8

Cuttack: Orissa high court on Monday granted the state govt time till Jan 8 to enquire and file an affidavit on a PIL alleging chronic under-utilisation of Odisha’s iron ore mining capacity, claiming it is causing huge financial losses and deepening economic distress in key mining districts.Earlier, taking cognisance of the PIL filed by a Bhubaneswar-based NGO, the HC had asked the state govt to spell out its stand on the allegations.But when the matter came up for hearing on Monday, additional govt advocate Debashis Tripathy submitted that there was a need for conducting an inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the allegations, especially regarding Balda and Jururi iron ore blocks.Taking note of it, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman posted the matter to Jan 8 and directed the state govt to complete the inquiry and file an affidavit by then.The petition claimed that several iron ore blocks in Odisha have significantly underperformed despite having approved mining plans and environmental clearances, leading to major revenue losses.The petition said Balda iron ore block, with an approved capacity of 15 MTPA, produced over 10 MTPA before 2020-21 but managed only about 6% of its capacity over the last four years. Experts estimated that optimal production of 40-56 MT during the period could have generated an additional Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 crore in royalties, District Mineral Foundation (DMF) and National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) contributions, besides creating livelihoods for nearly 5,000 people.Similarly, Jururi iron ore block produced less than 5% of its approved capacity in its first year (2020-21) and continued to underperform in subsequent years. Such prolonged underproduction has adversely impacted public revenue, local employment and allied sectors like transport, logistics and mineral-based industries, the petition alleged.The petition contended that Odisha — which holds 28% of India’s iron ore reserves — has 63 operational iron ore leases with a combined environmental clearance (EC) capacity of 246 MTPA, but achieved only 159 MTPA production in 2024-25. This amounts to just 64% utilisation of capacity and a mere 1.6% of its total recorded geological resources, the petition stated.The HC had observed earlier that the petition raises significant questions about the state’s stewardship of mineral resources. The court noted in its order that “...there is a striking imbalance between the production and the optimal use of the natural resources by the lessees”.