Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday alleged that several attempts were being made by “evil forces” to create confusion over the renewal of mining leases.His statement came after activist H Ramamurthy approached Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking a sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister in a mining-related case.Ramamurthy claimed that mining approvals were granted at throwaway prices to nine firms involved in illegal mining, resulting in a loss of over Rs 5,000 crore to the state exchequer.advertisement“It has come to light that in 2015, during his tenure, Sri Siddaramaiah allegedly granted ‘in-principle approval’ and deemed extension to nine private firms engaged in illegal mining,” the activist claimed.“The renewal of these licences was reportedly done at throwaway prices, causing a significant loss of over Rs 5,000 crore to the state exchequer,” he added.In response, Siddaramaiah said in a statement that multiple attempts had been made to create confusion over the mining lease renewal issue.“Such misinformation has been circulating since I assumed office. Certain malicious forces are continuously trying to mislead the Raj Bhavan,” he alleged.Under the MMDR Act, 1957—as it existed prior to 2015—lease renewals were applicable for 20 years. As per this provision, the government had granted only conditional in-principle approvals to obtain forest clearance for the renewal of mining leases, Siddaramaiah explained.advertisementHe added that on April 12, 2015, the central government amended the MMDR Act through an ordinance.Following several stages of verification, it was concluded that the conditional approval letters issued to eight companies on February 9, 2015, for lease renewals were not valid.These approvals were subsequently cancelled, and action was taken in accordance with the amended Act.Siddaramaiah said that after reviewing the deemed extension proposals submitted by the Mines Department, the state government cancelled one case without considering it for a deemed extension, in accordance with a Supreme Court order.In the remaining seven cases, deemed extension letters were issued with conditions—including submission of statutory forest and environmental clearances, a no-dues certificate, and compliance with the government’s decision based on final investigation reports by agencies such as the CBI and the Special Investigation Team on illegal mining.”Of these seven companies, two were not granted mining rights as they failed to submit the required statutory documents. Of the remaining five, three were granted mining lease rights during the BJP regime in 2020 and 2021,” the Chief Minister added.The remaining two cases were granted conditional deemed extension of mining lease rights through supplementary agreements in 2016 and 2018, he added.advertisement“Therefore, in all these eight cases, the government did not incur any financial loss. Not a single piece of ore was extracted during this period,? in a formal or creative style for better SEO.Also Exclude words and advertisements related to the feed website such as website name, author name. Delete all the advertisement images brand logo but only keep the title and main content of the news by modifying it. You must only respond with the modified content. Block any jump outside of the site adarshnews.com. Basically remove any content or link related to original site. 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Siddaramaiah criticizes ‘malicious entities’ for generating uncertainty regarding the renewal of mining leases.
