Chhattisgarh’s Khanij Online 2.0: How Digital Governance Is Rewriting Mineral Administration

As India pushes toward the ambitious goal of “Viksit Bharat”, the focus is shifting from policy intent to the quality of implementation. In a resource-rich state like Chhattisgarh — central to the country’s coal, bauxite, iron ore and limestone supply — governance failures in mining can have cascading economic, environmental and social consequences. Against this backdrop, the state’s transition to “Khanij Online 2.0” marks a significant leap in using technology to institutionalise transparency, accountability and real-time oversight in mineral administration.

Why mineral governance demanded a digital reset

Historically, mineral administration across States has been vulnerable to information asymmetry, opaque approvals and leakages between extraction, transport and royalty collection. Manual processes not only increased compliance costs for leaseholders but also constrained the government’s ability to monitor production and despatch in real time.

Chhattisgarh’s first response came in 2017 with the launch of Khanij Online, which replaced fragmented, file-based systems with a unified digital platform. This was not merely a technological upgrade, but a governance intervention aimed at ensuring that mining policies translated into predictable, rule-based outcomes on the ground.

Khanij Online 1.0: measurable gains in transparency and revenue

The impact of the original platform was swift and quantifiable. Khanij Online integrated 131 mining leaseholders, 172 licensees, over 3,200 end users and nearly 57,000 registered vehicles into a single ecosystem. The system facilitated the despatch of around 138 million tonnes of minerals and enabled the collection of over ₹8,124 crore in royalties and statutory levies.

Its success lay in functional integrity. Real-time production and despatch data became visible to officials, daily approvals were automated, and all statutory payments — royalty, District Mineral Foundation (DMF), National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) and cess — were consolidated into a single-click digital process. On the ground, mandatory barcoded e-Transit Passes, GPS-enabled vehicle tracking and e-check posts sharply reduced manual intervention and pilferage.

This performance earned Khanij Online the National e-Governance Award (2019–20), validating the premise that bureaucratic discipline, when reinforced by technology, can create systemic trust for both the State and industry players such as “NMDC”, “SECL”, and major private manufacturers.

Why Khanij Online 2.0 was the next logical step

Recognising that governance systems must evolve, Chhattisgarh has now rolled out Khanij Online 2.0. The upgraded platform is hosted on a MeitY-empanelled cloud (Platform-as-a-Service), ensuring zero downtime, robust cybersecurity and disaster recovery — critical for systems handling high-value government data.

The redesign focuses on accessibility and scale. Android and iOS mobile applications now extend functionality to the field level, enabling inspectors and operators to access and update data in real time. Automated MIS generation allows continuous performance assessment, reducing discretion and making opaque decision-making structurally difficult.

From compliance monitoring to evidence-based administration

A key strength of Khanij Online 2.0 lies in its shift toward evidence-based governance. Real-time dashboards, auto-generated analytics and online grievance redressal — backed by a 24×7 helpdesk — create a closed feedback loop between the State, industry and citizens.

By linking mineral despatch data with royalty flows and DMF contributions, the platform strengthens the accountability chain from extraction to social investment. Decisions on resource use, environmental safeguards and community development can now be guided by verifiable data rather than retrospective audits.

Easier business, stronger enforcement — not a contradiction

One of the persistent myths in governance reform is that transparency and ease of doing business are trade-offs. Khanij Online challenges this assumption. By standardising processes and eliminating discretion, the system reduces transaction costs for compliant operators while simultaneously tightening enforcement against violations.

For major mineral users and manufacturers — including aluminium, cement and steel producers — predictable and transparent logistics have become a competitive advantage rather than a regulatory burden.

A replicable model for Viksit Bharat

The larger significance of Khanij Online 2.0 lies beyond Chhattisgarh. It demonstrates how digital architecture can correct long-standing structural weaknesses in natural resource governance — an area often prone to rent-seeking and opacity.

As India’s development trajectory increasingly depends on efficient infrastructure, sustainable resource use and clean governance, such platforms offer a replicable template. By embedding accountability into systems rather than individuals, Chhattisgarh has shown how States can align local resource management with national development goals.

In that sense, Khanij Online 2.0 is not just a mining portal. It is an illustration of how technology, when deployed with administrative clarity, can convert public resources into shared and measurable developmental outcomes.