CAG orders assessment of material being used by firm

SOLAN: The Comptroller and Auditor General CAG has directed the mining wing of the Industries Department to assess the quantity and type of minerals being used by GR Infra Limited in the fourlaning of the ParwanooSolan stretch of National Highway22 and charge the due royalty on a monthly basis

Updated At : 06:09 AM Aug 11, 2016 IST

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, August 10

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has directed the mining wing of the Industries Department to assess the quantity and type of minerals being used by GR Infra Limited in the four-laning of the Parwanoo-Solan stretch of National Highway-22 and charge the due royalty on a monthly basis.

The action follows a report carried in these columns where it had been pointed out that the company had neither submitted its mining plan nor a detailed project report (DPR), failing which the exact royalty could not be assessed. Though a royalty of Rs 1.79 crore had been assessed by the mining wing earlier, the company had deposited Rs 60 lakh on June 25 after it was issued a notice.

The company had initiated work in September last year and even the balance royalty has not been deposited to date.

A user is supposed to pay royalty on using naturally occurring material in the state as per the Himachal Pradesh Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2015.

While citing loss of revenue due to the non-payment of royalty, CAG has pointed out there were no records of the quantity or type of minerals for which the royalty had been charged. The crucial records like dimension of structures, source of minerals, DPR and monthly progress report were not available with the officials. It, therefore, stated that the improper maintenance of records and lack of proper assessment had resulted in the loss of revenue by means of non-payment of the due royalty.

CAG directed the officials to duly get the quantity and type of minerals used in the project assessed by a relevant agency and provide them the same. It also asked them to procure records, such as the dimension of structures and source of mineral material, DPR and a monthly progress report, from the private company. The mining wing has also been asked to charge the due royalty on a monthly basis after completing the assessments.

“The company will now be charged 24 per cent interest for the balance royalty of Rs 1.19 crore as per norms,” said an official, while monthly royalty as per the final assessment would also be charged.

State geologist Rajnish Sharma said they had appointed a surveyor for assessing the quantity and type of minerals used by the private company and once his assessment was complete, they would charge the monthly royalty as directed by CAG.