Even as the Mines Ministry has initiated a dialogue with state governments on amending the Mining Bill which includes a clause suggesting auction of mining leases, it has sent back to the state governments, thousands of applications seeking permission to mine in un-notified areas, which is beyond the area specified for mining.
According to official sources, while applications seeking permission to mine in areas notified by applicants are likely to be entertained by the Mines Ministry, applications of those who want to mine areas which are located beyond the specified areas, have been returned to the respective state governments. The applicants will now have to seek clearance from the states to start mining operations in areas which are beyond the jurisdiction of notified areas.
As it is, no leases have been handed out by the Government since 2012 and with pending applications piling up, sources informed that the Mines Ministry decided to deal with requests seeking permission to mine in un-notified areas by sending them back to the state governments.
Normally in a forested area, any entity which wants to undertake mining operations has to send a prospective map to the Government, where a specific area has to be notified within which it plans to start mining. This is known as notified area. Apart from this, whichever area which has not been notified by the entity, is known as un-notified area.
The Mines Ministry had thousands of applications lying pending with it, seeking permission to mine outside the notified areas in various regions across the country. These have been sent back by the Centre to the respective state governments thus putting the ball in their court.
With this done, the Centre now only has to deal with requests seeking to mine in notified areas. Though no specific figures are available, sources pointed out that with this move the Mines Ministry has managed to reduce its work load considerably.
Also with consultations with majority of mineral-rich states almost over on whether to amend the Mining Bill, sources informed that Mines Ministry may introduce it in the Winter session of Parliament which is scheduled to be held in November-end. Once there is clarity on the format of the Bill, the process of awarding mining leases may begin soon.
The much delayed Mining Bill could not be moved during the Monsoon session (which was the first session of the newly elected 16th lok Sabha) as several amendments were suggested in it by a Parliamentary panel which delayed its passage in Parliament, even though it had been introduced in 2011. It subsequently got lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th lok Sabha.
Narendra Singh Tomar, who took charge of the Mines Ministry after the NDA Government came to power at the Centre in May, chose to consult all mineral-rich states on the amendments suggested by the Parliamentary panel in the Mining Bill.
Apart from suggesting auction of mining leases, a major provision in the Mining Bill suggested that coal mining companies share 26 per cent of their net profit with project-affected people. It further suggested that non-coal miners should pay 100 per cent 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.