Bhubaneswar, 02 October (H.S.) : Union Minister and BJP MP Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday questioned former Odisha Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik over the previous BJD government’s decisions concerning bauxite supply and the implementation of provisions under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.

In a series of posts on X, Pradhan alleged that the BJD and Patnaik were repeatedly misleading the people of Odisha on the MMDR Act and the state’s natural resources.

Referring to a recent judgment of the Odisha High Court, Pradhan claimed that the court had rejected the demand of a particular private industrial company for supply of 150 million tonnes of bauxite based on an assurance allegedly made by the BJD government in 2004. He said the court had made it clear that past assurances relating to natural resources could not override the law currently in force.

Pradhan said that following amendments to the MMDR framework and Rule 45 of the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules (MCDR), 2016, a conversion factor was applied to the average sale price of bauxite. According to him, this resulted in an increase in the applicable bauxite price from around Rs 750 per tonne to Rs 1,707 per tonne.

He claimed that the revised mechanism benefited the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and could generate additional revenue for the state through royalty, the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) and the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET).

However, Pradhan alleged that the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written separately to the Centre on February 1, 2020, through letter No. 1044, and on October 7, 2020, through letter No. 8569/SM, requesting a reduction in the conversion factor and implementation of a lower rate sought by a private company.

Pradhan claimed that the Centre had rejected the request. He alleged that the correspondence indicated an attempt to provide relief to a particular private company at the expense of the state’s interests.

Raising questions over the issue, Pradhan asked why the then state government sought reconsideration of a provision that, according to him, was financially beneficial to Odisha. He also questioned whose interests the decision was intended to serve.

“Was the prolonged outstanding amount of around Rs 5,400 crore against a particular private company not the result of a wrong decision?” Pradhan asked.

He further questioned the rationale behind allegedly extending concessions to a private company while, according to him, potentially affecting the state’s revenue interests.

Pradhan urged Patnaik to acknowledge the facts and provide an explanation to the people of Odisha instead of, as he alleged, presenting misleading information on the MMDR issue and natural resource management.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda