The Odisha government today integrated information technology systems of its steel & mines and commercial tax departments to ensure transparency.

The lessees and the licensees involved in mining and trading are required to obtain prescribed permits for mining and transport of minerals, Commercial Tax Commissioner Manoj Ahuja said.

These entities, wherever statutory provisions apply, are also required to be registered under Odisha VAT Act, Odisha Entry Tax Act and CST Act, as the case may be, Ahuja said.

For transport of minerals outside the state, a way bill is required from the commercial tax department besides a transit pass, permit from steel and mines department, he said.

At present, these documents are available from two IT systems owned and maintained by two departments providing electronic service.

"Now an effort is made to integrate these system in order to provide a simpler and faster way to obtain these documents," S&M secretary Rajesh Verma said.

The beneficiaries both inside and outside the state could avail the benefit under the IT integration, state's Steel and Mines Minister R K Singh said.

On the benefits of the IT integration, Ahuja said, the lessees and licensees will be able to generate e-way bill from the commercial tax department immediately after they generate the transit passes from the S&M department.

"The entities tax identification number would be automatically verified by the S&M department system from the commercial tax department system, which will provide a single identification to all the beneficiaries," Ahuja said.

This apart, he said the process will also help the state government in generating almost real-time information relating to the minerals business in Odisha.