Bhubaneswar: Mining leaseholders, who have failed to pay fine as ordered by the Supreme Court, will be barred to operate from January 1, said Mines minister Prafulla Mallick today.
The State government will submit a report before the Supreme Court on January 1, the minister stated.
He added that the exact fine amount will be known in the evening on December 31.
The Supreme Court has fixed January 17 as the next date for hearing of the case.
The apex court had asked the mining leaseholders, engaged in illegal mining in Odisha, to pay 100 percent penalty by December 31.
After the State government had issued demand notice to 147 leaseholders to pay the penalty of Rs 17,576 for illegal mining by December 31, the leaseholders had moved the apex court seeking the royalty, taxes and logistics cost borne by them during mining to be excluded from the penalty. They also urged that the penalty amount should be paid in instalments.
However, the Supreme Court had rejected the plea of the leaseholders and instructed them to pay the said amount by December 31 or stop further operations.
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