BHUBANESWAR: Senior Congress leader Umesh Swain today alleged that the State Government had given a benefit of Rs 25,000 crore to the mine owners of State by not pursuing the case relating to Orissa Rural Infrastructure and Socio-Economic Development (ORISED) Act, 2004 in the Supreme Court. Swain said at a news conference here today that former minister for mines Padmanabha Behera had admitted in response to an unstarred question from him in Assembly during March 2006 that the loss of revenue to the State Government on this score was a staggering Rs 980 crore per annum. As the mining activities now have increased manifold, the loss per annum will touch Rs 5,000 crore, he said. The ORISED Act was struck down by the Orissa High Court in 2005. The Government had enacted the act to mobilise additional revenue from the mineral-bearing land. It aimed to collect Rs 1,300 crore from the mine owners operating in the State annually. The Act envisaged to levy tax on mineral-bearing land by reference to the annual value of the minerals produced and sold in the State. Under this act, the State Government had imposed tax on value of mineral-bearing land such as coal, iron ore, chromite, manganese ore, bauxite, limestone, dolomite, fire clay, china clay, graphite and gemstones at the rate varying from five to 20 per cent. The Congress leader said that the Supreme Court had permitted the West Bengal Government to collect levy through an authority for the overall development of the mine bearing areas. Recently, the Supreme Court declined to stay notices issued to them from the Madhya Pradesh Government for payment of a similar tax. The Madhya Pradesh Government under the MP Rural Infrastructure and Road Development Act, 2005, levied five per cent tax on mineral bearing land. Swain alleged that after the High Court had struck down the ORISED Act, 2004, the Government had announced to move the Supreme Court. The Orissa Government