Centre Doesn’t Owe Any Mining Royalty Dues: Minister
The Union govt has denied that it owes Jharkhand around Rs 1.36 trillion in mining (coal) royalty, an issue the mineral-rich state has been raising since long. The statement of the Union finance ministry in the Lok Sabha on Monday could further strain relations between the Centre and the state, where the Hemant Soren-led INDIA bloc govt has been claiming that Jharkhand has been denied its bonafide due in lieu of mining coal by several public sector units. While responding to a query raised by Purnia (Bihar) MP Rajesh Ranjan (Pappu Yadav) in Lok Sabha, Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written statement clarified that there is no discrimination in the allocation of funds to states by the Centre. Ranjan sought to know whether the Jharkhand govt's share in tax earned as revenue from coal to the tune of Rs 1.40 trillion has been pending with the Centre for years and the reasons behind it. He also asked whether the Centre is discriminating in the allocation of funds to the states and when will the blocked funds be released to provide impetus to the state in furthering its development works. Replying to it, the minister categorically denied that any share of Jharkhand is pending with the Centre. Chaudhary's statement read, "The Union govt provides funds to states under various heads such as tax devolution, grant-in-aid for centrally sponsored schemes, finance commission transfers, scheme for special assistance to states for capital expenditure/investment. In addition, funds are released in various central sector schemes to be utilised in the state of Jharkhand. Funds are released based on the recommendations of the finance commission, scheme guidelines, fulfilment of the stipulated conditions and submission of utilisation certificates of funds released earlier." As per the response, Jharkhand received Rs 77.9 billion from the Centre over the last three financial years under various heads. The Centre's statement, however, is in contradiction to Hemant govt's claims. In April 2022, former chief secretary Sukhdev Singh letter stated that dues were pending under various categories namely — Rs 29 billion for dues of royalty payable on washed coal; Rs 32 billion related to common cause judgement and Rs 1,01,142 in lieu of govt land acquisition.
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