Prices of Coal, iron ore and other minerals are likely to move
up once the new Mines Bill is approved.
“Prices of all the minerals will go up due to this (the new Mines Bill),
once enacted,” the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries' Secretary
General R K Sharma said.
The Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011, which seeks
to share 26 per cent of profits by coal miners with project-affected people,
was on Friday approved by the Cabinet. It will be tabled in Parliament's Winter
Session.
Coal India Chairman N C Jha said it is a government decision and “we will
have to implement it and the additional cost impact, due to the new act, will
eventually be passed on to the consumersâ€Â.
A senior NMDC official said, “It will have to be passed on to the
consumers, although were yet to calculate the impact.”
He added that industry is concerned about the percentage of royalty/profit that
industry is expected to contribute and the lack of clarity on a proper
mechanism to compensate project affected persons.
Reacting on the Bill cleared by the Cabinet, industry
bodies, FICCI and Assocham said that the proposed contribution will make mining
unattractive for organised investors including foreign investors.
The tax incidence on coal will increase to 61 per cent and iron ore to 55 per
cent, the industry bodies said.
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