New Delhi The government is planning to introduce several changes to mining laws, including allowing companies to sell half of their output from private mines without end-use restrictions and eliminating the heavy forestry clearance process for prospecting operations.
Six major amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 are proposed to be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament, an official aware of the development said. “The amendment is aimed at getting more investment in the mining sector and helping the country become self-reliant in several minerals and boost production,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
The official said that the consultation with the stakeholders for the proposed changes is almost complete, and the Ministry of Mines will soon send the final note on the amendments for cabinet approval.
Among the changes proposed by the mining ministry are the removal of lithium-containing minerals, a key raw material for batteries, from the restricted list of nuclear minerals, allowing the government to auction mining concessions to the private sector.
This change is expected to boost the production of lithium-ion battery manufacturing in the country, which will help the country’s fast growing electric vehicle industry.
The proposal also aims to remove lithium from the list of atomic minerals where mining permits can only be granted by the Center to state-run companies.
The proposed amendment is intended to include eight of the 12 atomic minerals, including lithium-bearing minerals, zirconium-bearing minerals, and beach sand minerals, titanium-bearing minerals, uranium and thorium-containing rare earth group minerals. These include, in a new category – critical and strategic minerals. The Center will be empowered to give concessions to both public and private sector mining companies for these minerals.
The reform proposals also include allowing states to grant composite licenses without the need to seek approval from the Centre. This is expected to accelerate the auction of blocks containing mixed minerals.
A query sent to the Ministry of Mines remained unanswered till the time of going to press.
Rising spending on infrastructure development and demand from automotive companies is driving the growth in the metals and mining sector in India. Demand for metals and metal products is also increasing as India expands domestic manufacturing. The reform measures are also expected to remove supply side bottlenecks, the official said.
The amendments also propose to increase and fix mineral-wise maximum area limits for mineral concessions to provide large mining areas to investors.
Accordingly, for major minerals like iron ore, the maximum area for prospecting license and mining lease has been doubled to 50 sq km and 20 sq km respectively. This will enable private miners to get the same land for mining which was earlier being given to government companies without central approval.
Among other changes, the Center also decided to exclude duties and levies (ex-mine price) such as goods and services tax, export duty, royalty, District Mineral Foundation and National Mineral Exploration Trust while computing the average selling price of minerals. has done.
It will limit the charge of royalty on royalty and tax burden on companies and improve recovery for the government in mineral concession auctions.
The proposed changes on sale of minerals from captive mines will do away with the existing provision where sale of 50% of minerals can start after the end use plant requirement is met. This provision prevented the development of mining operations because companies where end-use plants were closed or still under development could not mine the minerals.
Another major restrictive provision was the requirement to obtain forestry clearance, which included a forest diversion plan for mineral reconnaissance permits and prospecting licenses, even though the activity only involved surveying mineral-rich lands before being permitted for non-forestry activities. Are.