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Auditor General Orders Immediate Recovery of Unpaid Mine Royalties

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The Office of the Auditor General has ordered the immediate collection of Rs 237.7 million in unpaid royalties from mines and mine-based materials. The directive follows findings that royalties have not been paid for over a year and extraction quantities exceeded permitted limits. The collection includes royalty rates, fines, and local development fees.

• The Auditor General's 63rd Annual Report found that royalty payments for mineral extraction were overdue by more than a year.
• The directive specifies a royalty rate of 25 rupees per cubic meter for ordinary stone, plus a 30 percent fine and a 10 percent local development fee.
• The Department of Mines and Geology collects royalties based on quantities submitted by extractors, and the report suggests maintaining accounts in a designated format.
• Policies such as establishing a mineral fund and mapping are also mentioned in the report.
• A total of Rs 1.59 billion in royalty has been collected from mines permitted by the Department of Mines and Geology.