Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has
sought the World Bank`s assistance to bring transparency to
the "corruption prone" mining sector.
The government was contemplating to introduce WB
supported institution like Extraction Industries Transparency
Initiative (EITI) to bring transparency in mineral exploration
and transportation, and regulation of the mining
administration, Steel and Mines Secretary A K Dalwai said.
The objective of EITI is to increase transparency in
payment by companies involved in mining activities to the
state government, he said.
With implementation of the EITI model in the mining
administration, the state was expected to increase its revenue
collection as royalty. While the annual earning due to
royalties from minerals was about Rs 2,000 crore now, it could
go up to Rs 5,000 crore per annum after the new model is
implemented, Dalwai said.
The state government had already taken up the issue
with Vikram Menon, senior consultant of World Bank in this
regard, official sources said.
EITI, which began in 2002, had been implemented in
about 30 countries successfully, they said.
The WB, sources said, would conduct a study on the
present scenario in the state`s mineral sector before
introducing a model on how to increase revenue from mining
sector by bringing down corruption.
PTI
