Vinit Wahi / NEW DELHI
Stating that Indian mining sector is very heavily taxed, both compared to international as well as other domestic sectors level, it has demanded rationalisation of tax structure for sustainable development and deriving long term benefits in terms of sustained raw materials security.
Under the GST regime, all the ores have been pegged at 5 per cent GST but most of the inputs and services used for mining of ores are taxed at 18 per cent. In addition, further service tax at 15 per cent on royalty paid on minerals introduced in April, 2016 has now been enhanced to 18 per cent under GST. This will be additional burden particularly for the non-captive mines where the input credit may not be available and hence “needs to corrected “, said Mr Sanjay Pattnaik, president of Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI).
Talking to media persons here today, he said the federation has also urged the government to remove export duty on iron ore above 58 per cent FE which will give boost to exports of iron ore and will facilitate liquidation of huge stockpiles. In fact, there is a huge stockpile of iron ore to the tune of 149 million tonnes lying in the mines mostly in Odisha and Jharkhand, he added.
The FIMI said in line with the MMDR Act, 2015 the mining leases are granted for a 50 years period while the validity of environment clearance continues to be maximum for 30 years period. But it should be in tandem with the period for which mining lease is granted, he added.
In fact, Mr S Vijay Iyer , senior office bearer of the federation, said that to encourage exploration, government may consider seamless conversion of national mineral exploration policy 2016 to PL cum ML or mining lease for exploration company.