By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of Mines, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Rajya Sabha said , that it has been decided to formulate an index based mechanism by developing a National Mineral Index (NMI) for calculation of various payments as well as determination of statutory payments for future auctions. The proposal has been approved by the Cabinet on 13.01.2021. Accordingly, Ministry of Mines vide order dated 06.04.2021 has constituted a Committee to develop National Mineral Index (NMI) of individual minerals and examining the issue of double taxation.
In terms of Section 9(1) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act 1957, every mining lease holder needs to pay royalty for major minerals removed or consumed as per the royalty rates specified in the Second Schedule of the MMDR Act, 1957. Royalty is collected and retained by the State Governments concerned. Royalty rates were last revised on 01.09.2014.
In order to evaluate the revision of royalty rates and dead rent for minerals (other than coal, lignite, sand for stowing and minor minerals), the Ministry of Mines vide order dated 09.02.2018 had constituted a Study Group consisting of representatives from various State Governments including State Government of Odisha and representatives of Mining Industry /Associations /Federations etc. The State Government of Odisha furnished their comments there on vide letter dated 26.06.2018. The Study Group has submitted its final recommendation on 25.07.2019.
He said ,Mineral assessment is a continuous process and a number of exploration agencies like Geological Survey of India [GSI], Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited [MECL], Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research [AMDER], State Departments of Geology and Mining [DGMs], State/Central Undertakings are engaged in exploration of mineral deposits in the country.
For mineral surveys in the country, GSI is the nodal agency to formulate exploration programmes of various agencies through Central Geological programming Board. GSI carries out mapping and systematic exploration for various mineral commodities under different stages e.g. ‘reconnaissance survey’ [G4], ‘preliminary exploration’ [G3] and ‘general exploration’ [G2] seamlessly based on the mineral potential following the guidelines of United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) and Mineral Evidence and Mineral Content Rules (MEMC-2015) with an aim to augmenting mineral resource.
GSI has implemented Online Core Business Integrated System (OCBIS) to enable the broader geoscientific community and other stakeholders to easily access, view and utilize GSI data & information including mineral exploration data. The mineral exploration programmes executed by GSI are available in public domain (www.gsi.gov.in) in the form of Geological reports.
Further, Indian Bureau of Mines [IBM], an attached office of Ministry of Mines collects the exploration data from various agencies. On the basis of information of exploration and the results provided by different agencies or stakeholders, IBM publishes the National Mineral Inventory (NMI) of mineral resources in the country on an interval of once in five years. The information of reserve/resources of minerals is being published in public domain and available on IBM website.
Under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, for major minerals, the mineral concession can be allotted through auctioning. The power to grant these mineral concessions vests in the State Governments. The extraction of minerals depends on the grant of the mineral concessions by the State Government and the utilisation of minerals depends on economic viability of the minerals.
For the development of the domestic mining sector by adopting advance mining technology and to promote eco-friendly mining in vulnerable eco-sensitive zones in the country, provisions have been made in National Mineral Policy (NMP) 2019. Further, to ensure sustainable mining, Rule 35 of Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017(amended from time to time), inter-alia, mandate that every holder of mining lease has to achieve at least three star ratings within stipulated time period of four years with effect from 27.02.2017 or four years from the date of commencement of mining operation failing which authorized officer of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) may suspend the mining operation, he added.
