Fresh amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act 1957 and changes to relevant rules will be brought in before the next Parliament session, said Union Minister for Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar.
Addressing the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) Mining Mazma meet, Tomar said the necessary amendment is being framed keeping in mind the Supreme Court rulings on iron ore mining and the Shah Commission findings.
The changes to the Act are expected to ease bottlenecks in the mining sector. Work is in progress on the draft, which will be made available to all State governments and other stakeholders in a week’s time, he added.
Tomar said his Ministry has held detailed discussions with the Orissa government and is now holding a series of meetings with Karnataka.
Long haul
In his address, Anup K Pujari, Union Mines Secretary, advised players in the sector to be patient while the changes are made.
“In mining if we need to bring in changes to the policy, it cannot be done overnight. You remember the MMDR Bill that was introduced in 2011? The groundwork was done several years prior to that. It took nearly a year and a half for Parliament to look into it. Unfortunately, before the Bill was debated, the Lok Sabha was dissolved.”
Explaining the need for amendments, Tomar said the sector was driven by greed and profit making. Now we plan to bring in the human element into it. “The proposed Bill will bring in a transparent and efficient system of allocation of leases, along with a robust regulatory framework that best serves nation’s interests,” he added.
The Ministry is working towards synergy between the Centre and Statest. “We would like to frame a transparent mining system for lease approval and auctions and efforts will be made in that direction,” he explained.