With the Supreme Court having allowed resumption of iron ore mining in Goa only on conditions like miners maintaining an annual excavation cap of 20 million tonnes and the State Government issuing fresh leases, the Union Mines Ministry has clearly indicated that "due diligence" would be done before handing out new licences to applicants in that state. This would include complete background check on them in consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Highly placed Mines Ministry sources told The Pioneer that fresh leases would be given only after conducting complete due diligence on the applicants in the sense that they fulfill all the norms put out by the Supreme Court and all the grey areas would be scrupulously verified. They further indicated that MoEF would also be taken into confidence during the process of scrutinising applications for fresh mining leases. "We would like to fully satisfy ourselves regarding the background of the lease seeker," official sources said.
Going by the cautious approach being shown by the Mines Ministry, officials refused to comment on any time frame regarding issuance of mining leases to fresh applicants, saying that it would not be done any time soon. "The main focus will now be on scrutinising the applicants and tightening all the loose ends (if there are any) before giving mining leases," an official said.
The caution being exercised by the Mines Ministry has its genesis in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill (MMDR Bill or the Mining Bill as it is known popularly) which suggested issuance of leases through competitive bidding.
However with the UPA Government failing to get it cleared in Parliament, it is all set to lapse as the current lok Sabha's tenure is ending within a month's time, and therefore the Mines Ministry has no other option but to follow the prevailing system of offering mining leases on "first come first serve" basis. Under this, the ministry now in the wake of Supreme Court's observations while lifting ban on iron ore mining in Goa, will have to scrutinise each and every application which is forwarded to it seeking mining lease.
As per the normal procedure, the state governments grant mining leases, but this is done after the applications are scrutinised by the Mines Ministry at the Centre. Earlier this week, in its judgement the Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices A K Patnaik, S S Nijjar and Ibrahim Kalifulla, had said, "the panel (referring to an expert committee) had suggested that for the time being, annual excavation of 20 million tonnes of iron ore may be permitted in Goa with adequate monitoring of its impact on different ecological and environmental parameters, which will also help the expert committee in its future appraisal."
It permitted resumption of iron and other ore mining by those applicants which are granted fresh leases by the State Government in accordance with "its policy decision and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act". The Bench had also asked the State Government to frame a comprehensive scheme, in consultation with the Central Empowered Committee, and submit a report within six months.
In fact when in February 2012 the Supreme Court had cancelled all 122 telecom licences which were allotted to 11 companies during the tenure of former Telecommunications Minister A Raja (during UPA-I regime), a shaken Mines Ministry had sought law Ministry's view on whether it should continue with the "first-come-first-serve norm" followed by it while granting mining leases and had even stopped issuing them.