Ministry of Mines will notify 31 additional minerals as minor minerals, the Minister of Steel and Mines, Narendra Singh Tomar, said on Thursday.
These minerals are currently under list of major minerals. Notifying them as minor minerals will give regulatory and administrative powers to the State Governments over these minerals.
“This is being done with the intention to devolve more power to the States and consequently, expedite the process of mineral development in the country,” said Tomar at the sidelines of the 54th meeting of Central Geological Programming Board.
After being notified as minor minerals, State Governments can frame rules, prescribe rates of royalty, contribution to District Mineral Foundation and decide on the procedure for granting mineral concessions for the 31 minerals.
The minerals account for over 55 per cent of the total number of leases and nearly 60 per cent of total leased area. “Considering the extensive local outreach of States, this decision empowers Stages to customise regulatory framework to suit local conditions,” the Mines Ministry said in a statement.
Tomar also announced that in order to strengthen the mineral inventory database of India, the Government is planning to notify PSUs to carry out prospecting work and said that Geological Survey of India has plans to scale up exploration operations.