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

The owners of the brick kilns owe a total of ₹316.66 crore, of which ₹226.40 crore is in unpaid license fees and ₹90.26 crore in interest. File | Photo credit: The Hindu

The Bihar government on Friday (September 18, 2026) came up with a One Time Settlement Scheme (OTS) for settlement of arrears of brick kiln dues for the 2024-25 brick kiln season.

Under the scheme, brick kiln owners will have to deposit the outstanding principal while the interest component that accrued 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 the brick kiln owners owe a total of ₹ 316.66 crore, of which ₹ 226.40 crore is in unpaid license fees and ₹ 90.26 crore in interest.

Of the ₹316.66 crore outstanding debts, only ₹27.28 crore was recovered by the concerned district mining officials through certification proceedings/FIRs, leaving ₹289.38 crore as outstanding amount which includes ₹203 crore as principal while ₹85 crore as interest component.

“In Bihar, those involved in the brick kiln business had a considerable amount of money with the government for a long time. They also demanded that measures be taken to enable them to pay the outstanding amount in a lump sum. We considered their request and therefore the state cabinet in its last meeting decided to bring an OTS scheme for those involved in the brick kiln business in the state,” Kumar said while speaking to Patna.

“I would like to thank Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary for introducing a system under which one-time payment can be made and considerable relief has been given to those engaged in brick making,” he said, adding that the move would increase the revenue of the government and also provide considerable relief to people engaged in the business.

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

The minister called on all the owners of the brickyards to deposit the lump sum within the stipulated time so that they can start their business again and not have any trouble in the future.

Changes in the rules

While talking about the department approving the “Bihar District Mineral Foundation (Amendment) Rules 2026, which brought some changes in the earlier rules of 2018, Mr. Kumar said that 2% amount is deposited in every mining district where minerals like stone or sand are mined. The area associated with mining gets the two percent.

After the amendments to the Rules, 70% of the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) will be spent in the block from where the minerals are mined, 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 the Legislature and Legislative Council members from various districts were not members of the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) earlier, the minister said, adding that now they will also be members of the DMF after the rule change.

He stated that auction of stone areas has also been completed in Nawada and Sheikhpura and auction in other districts will be done as soon as possible.

The minister said that Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Satish Chandra Dubey will visit the state on September 22 (2026) and “we will have a meeting with him with the Geological Survey of India (GSI). Our aim is to advance the mineral sector as quickly as possible and speed up the work.”

Published – 19 Sep 2026 06:59 IST