By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Soon after the Parliament passing Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines and BJP Lawmaker from Karnataka’s Dharwad constituency, Pralhad Joshi on Monday said that these reforms will make mineral mining sustainable and drive economic activities in the country.
“With the Parliament passing Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021, stage is set for big-bang reforms in the mining sector. These reforms will make mineral mining sustainable and drive economic activities in the country.#Mineral Reforms,”Union Minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted @JoshiPralhad.
“With its passage in Rajya Sabha, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021 stands passed by both Houses of Parliament. It is a step towards attaining mineral security of the nation. I thank all Members who voted in favour of the Bill. #MineralReforms,” Joshi said in another tweet.
“We want to bring private players into this because we have rich minerals like coal, gold, silver, but we are not being able to bring it out. That’s why we are bringing these changes and trying to redefine exploration,” Union mines minister Pralhad Joshi said in Parliament.
Assuring members in Rajya Sabha, Joshi said the “progressive” bill will not curb the powers of states while creating more jobs. “I assure you that not a single iota of power of the states will be snatched or taken away by this bill.” Joshi also responded to the opposition’s call for a select committee probe on the bill.
“Wide consultations on the bill were held. The bill was circulated to states and 10,500 comments were received. As many as 10 associations and six NGOs had recorded their comments,” the minister said. “As many as 143 mines have been given to states. Since 2015, these mines are with them. Neither those were allotted nor auctioned. Who suffered the loss? We are importing coal despite having the 4th largest resource of coal,” Joshi stated.
