Mines Bill to seek Cabinet nod next week

The Mines and Minerals Bill 2011 is all set to be placed before the Union Cabinet.

The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Bill 2011 is all set to be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval next week. The Bill which has been designed to address illegal mining and mandate the miners to compulsorily share their profits earned from mining operations is likely to be tabled in the current session of the Parliament if the mines ministry has its way.

In the backdrop of the intense concerns on illegal mining in iron ore-rich Karnataka as highlighted by the states anti-graft watchdog,the mines ministry is eager to ensure early passage of the MMDR Bill,which would help both the central and state governments to monitor the utilisation of the mineral concessions given to various lease-holders and prevent over-exploitation of the minerals. We intend to take the MMDR Bill to the Cabinet next week. If we get the approval,then it would be tabled in the ongoing session of the Parliament, Mines Minister Dinsha Patel told The Indian Express.

Justifying his ministrys stand on mandating the miners share 26 per cent of the royalty,instead of making them share 26 per cent of their net profits,Patel reasoned that it would have been a Herculean task to ascertain the quantum of profits registered by the miners as there was no concrete mechanism to do so.

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He said that the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up to study the MMDR Bill opined that mandating miners to pay 26 per cent of their net profits was untenable as accounts could be fudged to hide the annual profits. I am of the firm view that there is no foolproof mechanism to make them (miners) to do so. So we decided that it was better to settle down on making them share 26 per cent of the royalty they pay to the states, Patel said and added that 56 mineral-rich districts of the country stand to gain Rs 7,000-8,000 crore.

Patel said the money accrued from this profit-sharing mechanism is expected to uplift those living in the mining zones and help them lead a better life. I also feel that once people start living a better life,they would themselves oppose the illegal mining menace. This,they would do for their own good as no one would like to be identified with this issue, the minister argued. The Bill also seeks to put in place a mechanism for time-bound allocation of mineral concessions and setting up of the National Mineral Regulatory Authority (NMRA) which would be empowered to issue guielines for improvement of the mining sector.

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