Non-tax revenue from mineral, coal sector up 45%

The government?s non-tax revenue from the mineral and coal sector in the first quarter of this year increased by 45 percent to Rp 8.7 trillion compared to Rp 6 trillion in the first quarter of this year despite the lingering downturn in most mining commodities particularly coal, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

The paper quoted Director General of Mineral and Coal R. Sukhyar as saying that the higher revenue obtained in the first quarter was a result of better reporting and supervision.

Director for mineral and coal development Sujatmiko said that the higher revenue was made possible after gold and copper giants PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara resumed export activities. The two firms were unable to export concentrates last year following the introduction of export ban policy in January of 2014.

The government has set non-tax revenue from the mining and coal sector to reach Rp 40 trillion this year.

Sujatmiko said that coal accounted for about 80 percent of the non-tax revenue in the first quarter. About Rp 4.3 trillion were contributed from royalty, Rp 2.2 trillion from sales of mining products, and the rest from fixed fee.

He said that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources plans to team up with the State Ministry of Research and Technology to develop an on-line system to ensure miners to pay royalty properly. (*)