The Centre has promulgated the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment, Ordinance 2015. President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Ordinance on January 12, after the Union Cabinet approved the amendments on January 5.
“The promulgation of Ordinance became necessary to address the emergent problems in the mining industry,” the Ministry of Mines said in a statement.
The statement added that the number of mining leases granted in the country has fallen and also the second and subsequent renewals have been affected by Court judgements. This has resulted in the mining sector’s output falling, leading to imports.
For example, while India has abundant iron ore reserves, the country’s imports are expected to be 15 million tonne in 2014-15 while exports are only estimated to be around 8-9 million tonne, making India a net importer of the mineral.
The amendments to the MMDR Act include auctioning of the mineral concessions. Also renewals have been done away with and the concession period has been increased to 50 years from the current 30 years. At the end of the concession period, the mining lease will be put up for auction again.
For the existing lease holders, the mining lease of existing lease holders has been extended till March 31, 2030 and for merchant miners it has been extended till March 31, 2020.
Apart from strengthening penal provisions to keep a check on illegal mining the ordinance also seeks to establish a District Mineral Foundation in the districts where mining takes place to address the grievances of people affected by mining.
In order to ensure there are no delays, the ordinance empowers the Centre to prescribe deadlines for various processes and also issue binding directions to States. Currently, 60,000 mining applications are pending with the States.