Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act (1957) is an Act of the Parliament of India 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 minerals. It details the process and conditions for acquiring a mining or prospecting licence in India. Mining minor minerals comes under the purview of state governments.
River sand A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
is considered a minor mineral. For mining and prospecting in forest land, prior permission is needed from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.


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 on 3 March 2015 and in the Rajya Sabha 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. 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 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 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 prospecting-cum- mining, 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, manganese, and bauxite, 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, trespassing and violation of norms, cognisable offences 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 In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
Society of Geo-scientists and Allied Technologists (SGAT) said that the prospecting-cum- mining 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 In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest. A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...
. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) political party of Odisha said that the bill infringes on the rights of state governments. The view was supported by Indian National Congress and
All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...
party.
Kariya Munda Kariya Munda (born 20 April 1936) is an Indian politician and the former Deputy Speaker of the 15th Lok Sabha. He has been a former minister in the Government of India, in the Governments led by the Janata Party in 1977 and by Bhartiya Janata P ...
of BJP said that provisions for the tribals displaced by mines should be made. Tathagata Satapathy 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.


See also

*
Mining in India The mining industry in India is a major economic activity which contributes significantly to the economy of India. The GDP contribution of the mining industry varies from 2.2% to 2.5% only but going by the GDP of the total industrial sector it ...
* List of Acts of the Parliament of India


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) , date=May 2012 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218152618/http://mines.nic.in/writereaddata/Filelinks/e342d686_MMDR%20Act%201957.pdf , archive-date=18 February 2015 Acts of the Parliament of India 1957 Mining law and governance Mining in India Ministry of Mines (India)