Tata Steel hopes to get the temporary working permit soon to resume mining at the chromite mine in Sukinda, Odisha.
The company had to halt mining at the mine as its lease validity, which was valid for 20 years, expired on January 11. The mine has the capacity to produce 2.4 million tonne (mn t) of chrome ore every year.
There seems to be delay in the renewal of the mine because of lack of forest clearance. The Sukinda chromite mine covers 406 hectare area, including 106 acre of forest land.
Because of lack of forest clearance, the firm could not operate the mine invoking the ‘deemed extension’ clause mentioned in the mineral concession rules (MCR).
The mines lease renewal process normally takes much longer time, sometimes over ten years due to lengthy bureaucratic process.
Therefore the MCR provides that if a mining company has applied for renewal of lease deed one year before the expiry date, then they will be allowed to operate the mine under deemed extension clause even if their lease is not renewed in time.
Even if Tata Steel is able to operate the mine under this special provision, it has to curb production significantly as per a recent mandate of the state government.
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