Now, a bigger mining scam in Odisha?

The theory is simple: more the mineral richness, more the exploitation.

One more case in point is Odisha-the state with the richest mineral and ore reserves which also has investment proposals worth $210 billion and also poverty.

The Naveen Patnaik government there might be running against time to ward off a huge mining scam.

According to a report in the Economic Times, the state government has sent notices to various corporates seeking penalties worth an aggregate Rs 50,000 crore.

[caption id=“attachment_514601” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The estimated Odisha mining scam is worth Rs 250,000 crore. Reuters[/caption]

The penalties pertain to alleged illegal and excess mining. Tata Steel has confirmed to the newspaper that it has received the notice demanding fine worth Rs 9000 crore.

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Essel Mining, Sarada Mines, Mideast (Mesco Steel) and the state government-owned Orissa Mining Corporation are the other companies to which notices have been sent, the report said.

According to opposition parties, the issuance of notices is just an eye wash. They estimate the Odisha mining scam at Rs 250,000 crore.

Niranjan Patnaik, president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, has been quoted as saying that the government has, by sending the notices, admitted to a revenue loss of Rs 58,000 crore.

The development assumes significance as the Justice MB Shah Commission is probing the alleged illegal and excessive mining in the state.

According to a report in India Today, the panel has visited eight mines in Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts where the members have noticed “instances of excessive mining and excavation beyond demarcated mining areas”.

They have vowed to go deeper into the scam.

The mining issue in the state is clearly getting messier.

Local protests against the mining are an everyday event in the state.

Jahangir Aziz, senior Asia Economist at JP Morgan, sees them as a reaction to the kind of business practices that have been done previously.

“It is focused on land acquisition and environmental violations, but the underlying reason is that there has been unfettered mining that has impacted livelihoods. That is why people are far more cautious,” Aziz was quoted as saying in a Reuters report .

The notices are likely to end up as a legal complication between the state, the Centre and the corporates, today’s ET report says.

If it turns out to be so, the raw material scarcity in the country is just going to get worse.