MSBB collects paltry Rs 7 lakh in dues

Eight months after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board (MSBB) to collect Actual Benefit Sharing (ABS) from commercial users of Castor plant, MSBB has managed to collect a paltry Rs 7 lakh in dues. As senior officials from the forest department confirmed, with existing ABS running into multiple crores, the lack of funds is indirectly affecting local bodies of MSBB that were to use these funds for biodiversity conservation. The castor plant industry, which has grown to an estimated Rs 100 crore, was pulled up by NGT in October last year after a Pune-based lawyer filed a petition. Justice V.R. Kingaonkar, judicial member and Ajay Deshpande, expert member of the western zone bench of NGT, pointed out in the order that since castor plant, which was a bio resource, was being used for commercial purposes, MSBB had the mandate to collect ABS payments under provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

As the payment method was to be decided on yearly turnover of companies and their profit making ratio, companies with turnover of about Rs 1 crore were eligible to pay 0.1 per cent; those with turnover between Rs 1 crore and Rs 3 crore were eligible to pay 0.2 per cent; and those with turnover of Rs 3 crore and above were eligible to pay 0.5 per cent of the same to MSBB.

Dr Dilip Singh, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APPCF) and member-secretary of MSBB, said, “The recoveries were to be done after November 2014 and until now, Rs 7 lakh is being recovered in the form of ABS contributions.”