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| Chief minister Naveen Patnaik receives a cheque of Rs 2 crore for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund from SAIL chairman Chandrasekhar Verma in Bhubaneswar on Monday. Telegraph picture |
Bhubaneswar, July 8: Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) chairman Chandrasekhar Verma today urged the state government to allow operation of the iron ore mines of Rourkela Steel Plant.
The application for renewal of the mines’ lease is pending with the government.
“We have requested the government to allow our mines to operate under the deemed extension clause,” said Verma after his meeting with chief minister Naveen Patnaik here today.
“We expect the government to be liberal,” he said.
Sources said three iron ore mines — Barsuan, Kalta and Bolani — were leased out to Rourkela Steel Plant. But, the lease term for these mines has expired and the plant authorities have applied for its renewal. However, their applications are pending with the state government. According to the law, if a miner has filed an application for renewal of lease agreement a year before the expiry of its validity and his lease has not been renewed by the due date, the validity of the lease shall be deemed to have been extended.
On May 21, the state government had issued a notification following an amendment to the Indian Stamp (Odisha Amendment) Act, 2013, which said that miners had to pay stamp duty from the expiry date of the mines lease even if they availed themselves of the benefits of the “deemed extension” clause. The state government prescribed that miners operating deemed extension mines had to pay stamp duty soon after expiry of lease validity. Recently, the state government asked district collectors to stop operation of mines that did not pay stamp duty by July 9.
SAIL today filed a petition in Orissa High Court questioning the legal competency of the state government to amend the Stamp Act, 1899, and levy stamp duty.
Verma evaded questions on the petition. “We are studying the financial implications of the state government’s order,” he said.
