KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – In a further clampdown, the Indian government has issued a directive that illegal mining projects will not be regularised unless violators submit to the Supreme Court giving an undertaking of compliance and payment of court-imposed penalties.

The fresh directive on illegal mining states that no illegal mining project will receive new environmental clearance from the federal government until violators deposited the financial penalties levied by the Supreme Court.

It further adds that in cases of repetition of illegal mining and in cases of second violations of mining laws, all clearances issued to regularise the illegal projects will automatically be null and void.

The Supreme Court in a verdict in August 2017 declared mining projects in the eastern Indian province of Odisha operating without mandatory environment clearances and/or which had violated other mining laws, liable to pay the equivalent of 100% of the value of minerals extracted from such illegal mining projects.

While no official figures are available on the aggregate penalties that miners operating illegal projects are liable to pay nor figures on the amount already collected by the Odisha government, sources in government indicated that the total penalties payable were estimated at about $8.8-billion, of which the local government has been able to recover only around $1.17-billion.

However, official government data shows that during 2016/17, 42 334 cases of illegal mining were registered in mineral-bearing provinces with the western province of Maharashtra leading the list with 10 797 cases.

During 2016/17, 96 233 cases of illegal mining were registered against the high of 1.10-million cases registered in 2015/16.

Meanwhile, to mount pressure on miners who have not paid the penalties, the Odisha government has initiated the process of confiscating miners' immovable property.

This week, the government has initiated the process of attaching personal properties of defaulting miners directing the defaulters to appear for a hearing before district officials. This was a follow-up of a notice sent earlier to the defaulters under the Odisha Public Demands Recovery Act, notifying that properties would be attached if penalties were not paid.

“A notice has been served to defaulters to appear before the Collector’s Court for a hearing. Recovery of penalties would be decided on the basis of the hearings. If the lease refuses to pay the penalty, we will either issue warrants to arrest them or attach their properties,” a local government official said in a media statement.