Indian Mining Ministry adds amendment to make lease renewal quicker

An amendment has been proposed by the Union Ministry of Mines which will allow applicants who are applying for a mining license renewal can move their plea to the Central Government if the State Government fails to respond on the matter within 60 days.

The NDA government is trying to pass the Bill in the winter session of Parliament as it will ease the bottleneck that is seen in mining lease renewals.

The purpose of this Bill is to speed up the mining operations as the sector is suffering heavily for the past few years in the country. Many of the country’s active mines had not received lease renewals and were continuing operations on deemed renewals.

The “deemed” renewals were permitted under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act, 1957, and Mineral Concession Rules, 1960, but a recent amendment by the Supreme Court ended the practice.

The amendment now proposed will also make dispute resolving easier along with a single application system for both prospecting and mining in case of bulk minerals like bauxite.

The 9-page draft amendment Bill has been uploaded on their website, said the Mining Secretary so that that the stakeholders’ can give their responses. "We are open for suggestions for incorporation till December 10. After that the Ministry will have a week's time to pilot the Bill. Even if we are not able to pass the amendment Bill in the Winter Session, we are hopeful it would be done in the next session," Pujari said.