No Revision of Coal Royalty for Odisha: Centre

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday said that there would be no revision of coal royalty for Odisha.

Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy said that the proposal about increasing coal royalty has been dropped.

The Union Minister made this revelation while replying to questions of Biju Janata Dal MP Dr. Sasmit Patra.

The BJD MP sought to know when the coal royalty for Odisha was revised last and the reasons for not having revised coal royalty for Odisha. He also want to know when the coal royalty for the state will be revised and reasons for the delay in not revising the coal royalty for the State.

The Union Minister said that there would be no revision in the coal royalty for now on the grounds of a report submitted by a study group.

The study group after considering all factors had submitted its report suggesting no change in coal royalty, said the Union Minister.

The rates of royalty were last revised in May 2012. For revision of the rates of royalty on coal & lignite, a Study Group was constituted in July 2014 for the purpose of examining the issue of revision of present royalty rates on coal and lignite, the Minister said.

The study group inferred from the comments of the stakeholders that the coal producing States had suggested to increase the rates of royalty from existing 14% to roughly 20%, whereas the coal consuming stakeholders suggested to reduce the present rate of royalty from 14% to roughly 5-6%, the Union Minister added.

The Study Group after considering all factors had submitted its report suggesting no change in the rates of royalty as Royalty as after levy of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) @ 30% on royalty and National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) @ 2% of Royalty, effective rate of Royalty is 18.48% i.e. approx 19% .

“The suggestion of Study Group was accepted by the Government. This issue of enhancing rate of royalty from 14% to 20% was also raised by State of Odisha during the Eastern Zonal Council meeting held on 28.02.2020 and it was decided to drop the issue”, the Minister stated.