HYDERABAD: Former minister Gali Janardhana Reddy’s Obulapuram Mining Company Private Limited (OMCPL) conspired with state government officials in obtaining a mining lease in a piece of land that does n0t have commercial grade iron ore, the CBI has said in its remand report and custody petition filed before the special CBI court.Focusing its investigation on mining activity in the lease area of 68.52 hectares known as Anthar Gangamakonda (AGK) allotted to the OMC, the CBI found that the company took the land on lease only to justify “illegal mining” elsewhere. “The OMC is mining in some other area and bringing the same to the stockyards of AGK and transporting under the permits issued by the Assistant Director, Mines and Geology (ADMG), Anantapur,” the petition says.According to the investigating agency, there are six mining leases in D Hirelal village in Obulapuram out of which three belong to the OMC on 68.52, 39.50 and 25.98 hectares respectively. The state government circumvented procedures laid down under relevant acts in leasing out 68.52 hectares to the OMC. In fact, it had accepted only two applications, that of OMC and M/s Vinayaka Mining Company, and finally granted 68.50 hectares to the OMC and 25 hectares to the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC). The lease was pending due to litigation but a lease deed was executed handing over the land to the OMC on June 19, 2007. As per rules, when a mine owner excavates ore, he has to pay royalty at a fixed rate and is issued a permit by the concerned ADMG mentioning the quantity of the ore to be lifted and also to the forest department, if the mining spot falls in a forest area. “As per OMC records and those collected from the ADMG, it appears that the OMC lifted 28.90 lakh metric tonne between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 and the quantity of iron ore in these permits was shown to be between 62 to 65 per cent Fe (iron) content,” the CBI said.
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