Indian government to introduce transferability of mines in the MMDR reform

The Central Government aims to improve the Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act and is introducing many amendments for that purpose. The most recent plan is to allow transferability of mines by which companies will be able to sell their mines to other companies for all minerals except the atomic ones.

According to this proposed law, a company will be able to sell its mines to other companies after securing permission from the concerned state government which is not allowed at present. At the moment, companies can simply transfer the lease after another company takes over.

The proposed plan suggests, for the transfer to take place, the new company must meet all the conditions and liabilities that were agreed upon for the original license. Plus, a transfer fee must be paid to the state government. Selling of a mine would mean a transfer of the mining lease as well as the prospecting-licence-cum-mining lease granted only through auction.

For the transfer of the prospecting-license-cum-mining lease, a 90-day notice must be given to the state government to seek its permission. During this period, the government may or may not approve the transfer. Besides the transfer, the government plans to incorporate other changes as well like the flexibility to levy charges on minor minerals when a sharing of the benefits with the local people is involved.