New Delhi, Jul 20 (IANS): The government has extended till July 16, 2013, the tenure of the Justice M.B. Shah Commission of Inquiry set up to enquire into cases of illegal mining, it was announced Friday.

The union cabinet Thursday approved the extension which will entail additional expenditure of Rs.50 lakh.

The extension has been sought since collection and compiling information on mining from the seven important mineral producing states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Madhya Pradesh was taking time.

The commission was set up to identify cases of illegal mining, and also to identify and rectify management, regulatory and monitoring system failures in curbing illegal mining.

Concerned over reports of large scale illegal mining and failure of state governments to curb the menace, the government had set up the commission on Nov 22, 2011.

The commission based in Ahmedabad was required to submit its report by July 16, 2012.