Bihar announces OTS scheme for brick kilns, waives ₹90 crore interest on outstanding dues

You don’t have any Active Subscription.

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Brick kiln owners owe a total of ₹316.66 crore, comprising ₹226.40 crore in outstanding royalty and ₹90.26 crore in interest. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Bihar government on Friday (September 18, 2026) came out with a One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme for the settlement of outstanding dues of brick kilns for brick kiln season 2024-25.

Under the scheme, brick kiln owners will have to deposit outstanding principal dues, while the interest component, which had accumulated on their earlier dues, will be waived off by the State government, Mr. Kumar told reporters at his official chamber at Vikas Bhawan. 

He added that brick kiln owners owe a total of ₹316.66 crore, comprising ₹226.40 crore in outstanding royalty and ₹90.26 crore in interest.

Out of ₹316.66 crore outstanding dues, only ₹27.28 crore has been recovered by the District Mining Officers concerned through certificate proceedings/FIRs, thus leaving ₹289.38 crore as outstanding amount that includes ₹203 crore as principal amount while ₹85 crore as interest component. 

“In Bihar, those engaged in the brick-kiln business had a substantial amount of money outstanding with the government for a long period. They had also been demanding that arrangements be made for them to pay the outstanding amount in a lump sum. We considered their plea and, accordingly, the state cabinet, in its last meeting, decided to bring an OTS scheme for those engaged in the business of brick kilns in the State,” Mr. Kumar said while speaking to the press in Patna.

“I would like to thank the Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary for bringing the scheme under which a one-time payment can be made, and substantial relief has been provided to those engaged in the brick-kiln business,” he said, adding that the move will increase the government’s revenue, while also providing considerable relief to people engaged in this business. 

The scheme will be applicable for a period of three months between September 21 and December 20, 2026, during which brick kiln owners will have to deposit the entire amount, failing which they will have to pay the entire dues under the earlier system, including the full interest. There are people associated with approximately 6,000 brick kilns. 

The minister appealed to all the brick-kiln owners to deposit the one-time amount within the stipulated period so that they can restart their businesses afresh and do not face any difficulties in the future. 

While talking about the department approving “Bihar District Mineral Foundation (Amendment) Rules 2026 that brought certain changes in the earlier 2018 Rules, Mr. Kumar said that 2% amount is deposited in each district from where mineral extraction takes place, where minerals such as stone or sand are excavated. A district associated with mining receives this two per cent amount.

Following the amendments to the Rules, 70% of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) will be spent in the block from where the minerals are being extracted, while 30% will be spent in other blocks of the district, Mr. Kumar said, adding that earlier, the ratio was 60:40.

Another change is that elected members such as Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly, and Members of Legislative Council from different districts were previously not members of the District Mineral Foundation (DMF), the Minister said, adding that they will now also be members of the DMF following the change in the Rules.

He asserted that the auction of stone-mining areas has also been completed in Nawada and Sheikhpura and the auction in other districts will be carried out as quickly as possible.

The Minister said that Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Satish Chandra Dubey will be visiting the state on September 22 (2026) and “we will have a meeting with the Geological Survey of India (GSI) along with him. Our objective is to move forward in the mineral sector as quickly as possible and expedite the work.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.