Bhubaneswar, Oct 26: Rejecting Odisha demand for a hike in coal royalty, the Center yesterday said that there will be no increase in the royalty in the current situation.
Briefing media persons after a meeting with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here, Union Coal secretary Anil Swarup said that to increase royalty on a natural resource is a national decision and it is not changed as per a state’s requirements. The Union secretary said that an increase in coal royalty will result in an increase in input cost for the power sector which will subsequently put a burden on the consumer in the form of increased electricity tariffs.
Notably, Naveen Patnaik had written a letter to the Central government seeking a hike in royalty for coal. Moreover, the Odisha CM had also met the Union Finance minister and demanded the same. On the other hand, Odisha mines minister, Prafulla Mallick has said that the center should reconsider and take a call on increasing the royalty rates. As per guidelines royalty should be increased once in 3 years. Coal royalty was last revised in the year 2012.
