Bhubaneswar, June 1: The state government has set a target to produce 20 lakh million tonnes of minerals and the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has been asked to achieve it.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today directed the officials to prepare an action plan to this effect.

Officials informed The Telegraph that the steel production in Odisha had been on the rise despite a global slowdown. Steel production has gone up to 20.38 million tonnes in 2015-16 from the previous year's 11.5 million tonnes.

Similarly, iron ore production has also registered a rise. The iron ore production in the state, which was 53.33 million tonnes in 2014, has shot up to 80.87 million tonnes in 2015-16.

After witnessing a slump in iron ore production due to closure of mines in the wake of multi-crore mining scam, the state government is now hopeful of speedy mining activities. The state government has set a target to produce 100 million tonnes iron ore in 2016-17.

Steel and mines minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick said Odisha was the first state to auction iron ore mines after the new Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act came into force last year.

Odisha has auctioned Ghoraburhani-Sagasahi East iron ore block having a mineral reserve of 99.59 million tonnes, which will fetch an estimated revenue of Rs 6,500 crore. "A target has been set to auction nine more mining block in 2016-17," said Mallick.

The chief minister was told that Odisha was also the first state to frame the Odisha District Mineral Foundation Rules, following which district mineral funds had been set up in all the thirty districts in which Rs 543 crore has been deposited.

The proposed Steel Directorate will start functioning within this month and Odisha Mineral Exploration Corporation by July.

The steel and mines officials informed Naveen that Odisha had been a leading state in maintaining transparency in mineral production and trading.

The technology adopted by Odisha in mining and minerals transport was being emulated by other states. Besides, the Odisha Remote Sensing Application Centre (Orsac) was developing a global positioning system (GPS) for real-time tacking of vehicles engaged in mineral transport, which was expected to be implemented by September.

Naveen directed the officials to expedite implementation process of Odisha Minor Mineral Concession Rules, amendment proposals of which have already been approved by the government.