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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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Centre acting unilaterally on mineral policy: Naveen

Special Correspondent

Concerns raised by States concerned ignored, he says

Doubts over the intention of the Centre, he says
He says Centre is trying to please multinationals

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday came down heavily on the Central government for going ahead with the National Mineral Policy, 2008 without addressing the concerns raised by his government and the governments of other mineral-bearing States.

Making a statement in the Assembly, Mr. Patnaik said the Union Cabinet had approved the draft mineral policy by ignoring the demands of the mineral-bearing States the same be shared with them before it went to the Cabinet.

“The surreptitious manner in which the entire matter has been handled by the Government of India raises doubts about their intentions, specially it being tabled in the Rajya Sabha in the last hours before the recent recess of Parliament,” Mr. Patnaik said.

The Chief Minister said he would write to the Prime Minister to lodge his protest on this crucial issue.

He would also write to the Chief Ministers of the mineral-bearing States who had been together with him at the meetings with the Prime Minister and the relevant Ministers on the issue.

‘Short-sighted policy’

Criticising the proposed policy, Mr. Patnaik said the Central government was anxious to promote free export of minerals in order to satisfy multinational mining companies.

Blaming the Opposition parties in the State for they had been criticising his government for giving captive mines to industries, Mr. Patnaik clarified that this was being done to attract industries to the State.

“The Government of India on the other hand is now saying that mining should be handed over to the mining giants with little regard for value addition within the State or country. This seems to be a very short-sighted policy. This is probably deliberately short-sighted. Could it be because the elections are round the corner?”

“We have been demanding that the royalty on various minerals should be ad valorem and that the export duty on minerals should be passed on entirely to the respective States. The policy has glossed over this very important issue which has a significant bearing on our resources,” Mr. Patnaik said.

The Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka had jointly expressed concern over the recommendations of the Hoda Committee and taken up the issue with the Centre.

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