The Odisha Government will bring out a roadmap for development of mineral sector as per the National Mining Policy (NMP).
Now, it is imperative to chalk out an action plan or a roadmap for development of the mineral sector to be formulated as per the NMP-2019 to give impetus to the directions issued by the Supreme Court of India, sources said.
Odisha, Chhattisgarh Jharkhand, Karnataka, Goa and other mineral rich States have been urged to bring out roadmap for the crucial sector by the Ministry of Mines.
The Union Government had formulated the NMP in 2019 to give impetus to the directions issued by the Supreme Court of India and the Ministry of Mines would be chalking out an action plan in this regard.
Once minerals-rich State Governments chalk out their action plans or the roadmaps for development of mineral sector, these would be synchronised and a national action plan will be in place, said sources.
Earlier, it had been decided that the Ministry of Mines will carry out an action plan for implementing provisions of the NMP-2019.
The Ministry of Mines has asked the State Governments that while bringing out an action plan for development of mineral sector, there would be emphasis on strengthening the regulatory mechanism with incorporating e-Governance System in a proper way.
Apart from that inclusion of satellite and remote sensing applications are needed, which will ensure transparency in the mechanism. Information Technology (IT) applications would be utilised in a big way for brining in transparency, officials say.
Provision would be made for end-to-end accounting of mineral and ore in the supply chain with use of IT enabled system.
In order to prevent illegal mining, appropriate mechanism would be put in place for generation of awareness among the people and a large scale information campaign would be launched for involvement of local population to supplement the law enforcement capabilities in preventing illegal mining.
The Union Government has advised the State Government to ensure transparency and fair play, while reserving areas for State Mineral Development Agencies.
Grant of clearances for commencement of mining operations shall be streamlined with simpler and time bound procedures. These are to be facilitated through an online public portal.
As part of the initiative for Ease of Doing Business, the State Governments shall make endeavour to auction mineral blocks with pre-embedded statutory clearances.
The minerals-bearing zones would be earmarked as mining land in the land records by the State Governments, said sources. Unused minerals-bearing areas reserved for public sector undertakings would be utilised for speedy development.
A senior official said there are several milestones in the NMP, which would be covered in a time bound manner and datelines are issued for implementation of NMP in a phased manner.