Cabinet Approves Amendments to MMDR Act to Reform Mining Sector: Report

Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat declaration, the government proposed to auction over 500 mineral mines for which it proposed amendments to the MMDR Act to bring about the reform for the mining sector.

The cabinet approved most of the proposed amendments to the MMDR Bill 2021 in January, but the Ministry of Mines proposed supplementary provisions to the MMDR Bill in February. The draft bill would allow the selling of 50% of coal extracted from captive mines that were allotted prior to the commercial coal mining auction. Since the global energy transition is happening faster than predicted, the goal is to optimize coal consumption.
In addition, the government has  not seen as much enthusiasm in commercial coal auctions following the Supreme Court’s deallocation of coal blocks in 2015 due to irregularities in allocation.

Provisions have also been made to enable captive miners to sell up to 50% of their excavation in a year in order to promote increased mineral output. Minerals such as bauxite, iron ore, chromite, limestone, and manganese would require captive miners to pay additional royalties to the states.

The proposal also included the fixation of additional sums for granting extensions to existing government mining leases in order to reduce mining operations delays.

In the event that state governments face difficulties, the central government has suggested allowing itself to hold mineral mine auctions.

Image Source: News 18