BackConsultations to delay tabling of amendments to mining Bill
The mines ministry has sought comments from various states with mining operations, including Goa, Karnataka, Odisha and Rajasthan
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New Delhi: Mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar has indicated that amendments to the more than half-a-century old Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, 1957, are unlikely to be tabled in the current session of Parliament, pushing back crucial reforms in the sector that has been plagued by illegalities, delayed mining leases and clearances, as well as production caps.
“This is a sensitive issue requiring wide consensus from a range of stakeholders. It has to be well thought out and discussed," Tomar told Mint on the sidelines of an Employees’ State Insurance Corporation conference on Thursday. Tomar is also in charge of the labour ministry.
The mines ministry has sought comments from various states with major mining operations, including Goa, Karnataka, Odisha and Rajasthan among others.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley in his maiden budget speech had said that he is hopeful that the impasse in the coal and mining sectors will be resolved by facilitating changes in the MMDR Act.
Ravi Uppal, managing director and chief executive officer of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), said mining reforms were urgently required as mining activity has been hit over the last few years and the industry requires clarity and a sense of direction.
“There should be larger private sector participation in mining activity, maybe through the PPP (public-private partnership) model," he said.
An official from London-based Vedanta Resources Plc. said, requesting anonymity, that though it is understandable that the government is taking time in working out the amendments, there might arise uncertainties around the 63,395 mineral concession applications pending with various state governments.
“There is talk of perhaps moving from the current ‘first come first served’ basis method of allocation to an auction route with the new amendments. This might create uncertainty and further delay in clearances of pending cases till clarity emerges," the official said.
The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi), an industry body representing miners, has recommended sticking to the principle of “first come first served" on a more stringent basis for granting mineral concessions, rather than the allocation of mines through the auction route, said Basant Poddar, vice-president of Fimi.
Fimi has also called for the promotion of junior exploration companies that have expertise, bank on venture capital or hedge funds, and have the latest technologies.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is still in its early days and consultations will take some time as different affected parties must be consulted, said Debasish Mishra, a senior director at consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd.
The previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had attempted to amend the Act in December 2011, but the Bill lapsed earlier this year.
The Bill proposed to empower the central government to intervene in cases of illegal mining where the state government concerned fails to take action against irregularities. It also called for coal miners to share 26% of their net profit with project-affected people. It required non-coal miners (miners of iron, bauxite, manganese, copper, aluminium, gold and silver) to pay 100% of the royalty on production to those displaced by the project. It also had several provisions for checking illegal mining as well as setting up special courts to dispose of such cases.
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