The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act (1957) is an Act of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

enacted to regulate the mining sector in India. It was amended in 2015 and 2016. This act forms the basic framework of mining regulation in India. This act is applicable to all mineral except minor minerals and atomic

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

s. It details the process and conditions for acquiring a mining or

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting reli ...

licence in India. Mining minor minerals comes under the purview of state governments. River sand is considered a minor mineral. For mining and prospecting in

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

land, prior permission is needed from the

Ministry of Environment and Forests The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. This ministry is headed by Secretary Rank senior most IAS officer. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister ...

Amendments

2015

The act was amended by The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 replacing the

ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

promulgated on 12 January 2015. The amendment was proposed to bring transparency to the allocation of mining licence process by auctions. It was passed in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

on 3 March 2015 and in the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

on 20 March 2015. The bill sought to bring transparency to the allocation of mining licence process by auctions. In November 2014, the draft of the bill was released for public comments. On 12 January 2015, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015, was approved by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

. It was the 7th ordinance by the

National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...

government since it took power in May 2014. The bill to replace the ordinance was introduced in the Parliament on 23 February 2015. On 16 May 2014, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

cancelled licences of 26 mines in

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

state. These mines were being operating even though the state had not given them renewal leases. The state was given 6 months to resolve the issues. During this period, Odisha renewed 8 leases. On 6 January 2015, the

Government of Odisha The government of the Indian state of Odisha and its 30 districts consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Odisha, a judiciary, and a legislative branch. Like other states in India, the head of state of Odisha is the Governor, appoi ...

decided to auction its remaining non-coal mining leases awaiting renewal. The state was granted 2 more months on 23 February to decide. However, introduction of the bill delayed Odisha's plans of auction. The amendment seeks to introduce a system of auctions to allocate mining licenses. A fixed percentage to the revenue of any mine will be allocated to development of the area around it, to be called a District Mineral Foundation. The state government will set the rates and it will be in addition to the

royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...

. A National Mineral Exploration Trust will be set up to explore and promote non-coal minerals. It will have a starting fund of crore and will be funded by a 2% levy from mining license holders. The licences will have a validity of 50 years, compared to the previous 30 years. There will be no renewal of licences, only re-auction. The bill contains a new license for

-cum-

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, replacing a two-stage process. The mining and prospecting-cum-mining licences may be transferred to another party by notifying the state government. The state government may charge a fees for such transfers. Notified minerals like iron ore,

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

, and

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...

, will not require a prospecting licence. The mining licence will be auctioned. For non-notified minerals, a prospecting-cum-mining licence will be required. The amendment will make

illegal mining Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission, in particular in absence of land rights, mining licenses, and exploration or mineral transportation permits. Illegal mining can be a subsistence activity, as is the ca ...

trespassing Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, ...

and violation of norms,

cognisable offence Cognisable offence and non-cognisable offence are classifications of crime used in the legal system of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Non-cognisable offences includes misbehavior, public annoyance etc, while cognisable offences are m ...

s punishable by 2 years imprisonment and/or fine. The state government will be allowed to set up special courts for such trials.

Criticism

In January 2015, after the ordinance was signed, a mining industry lobby group Society of Geo-scientists and Allied Technologists (SGAT) said that the

-cum-

was useless as no one would apply for such a licence unless they had found a proven reserve by prospecting first. In March 2015, during the session in which the bill was tabled, the central government did accept the changes proposed some opposition members, some of whom staged a walk-out.

Biju Janata Dal The Biju Janata Dal (; BJD) is a regional political party in the Indian state of Odisha founded and led by Naveen Patnaik, the current Chief Minister of Odisha and the son of former Chief Minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik, after whom the party ...

(BJD) political party of

said that the bill infringes on the rights of state governments. The view was supported by

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and All India Trinamool Congress party. Kariya Munda of

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

said that provisions for the

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

s displaced by mines should be made.

Tathagata Satapathy Tathagata Satpathy (born 1 April 1956) was a member of the 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Dhenkanal constituency of Odisha, and was re-elected for the fourth time in 2014. He was a member of the Biju Janata Da ...

of BJD also voiced similar concerns. The period of validity of licences was criticised as being too long at 50 years.

2016

The Union Cabinet of India approved amendments in March 2016. The amendment will allow transfer of captive mining leases not granted through auction. Transfer of captive mining leases, granted otherwise than through auction, would allow mergers and acquisitions of companies and facilitate ease of doing business for companies to improve profitability and decrease costs of the companies' dependent on supply of mineral ore from captive leases. The transfer provisions will also facilitate banks and financial institutions to liquidate stressed assets where a company or its captive mining lease is mortgaged.

References

External links

*{{cite web, title=Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (No. 67 of 1957) , url=http://mines.nic.in/writereaddata/Filelinks/e342d686_MMDR%20Act%201957.pdf , publisher=

Ministry of Mines (India) The Ministry of Mines is the ministry in the Government of India. The ministry functions as the primary body for the formulation and administration of laws relating to mines in India. The head of the ministry is Pralhad Joshi, who has been se ...