In a recent recommendation Ministry of Mines to Secretary (MoEF and CC) and other Chief Secretary to all the respective states amid exceptional situation arose inside the country, State govt. should extend their support and annualize the payment of upfront that is needed for execution of leases under issue from Apr’20. Regarding the annualization of stamp duty payment, state is requested to consider.
Central Ministry has also requested MOEFFCC to consider the annualizing the payment of NPV (Net Present Value) for the issue of forest clearances.
It clarified that relaxation shall be extended only for the period for which the COVID-19 pandemic exists or till June 30, whichever is later. After which the winning bidder will be required to pay the balance amount before a deadline decided by the respective states.
The Industry associations like Assocham, FICCI, CII, and AAI, etc have all indicated the difficult situation and asked the govt for its support in this tough situation.
The outbreak of Covid19 has created operational issues for the entire economy, including the mineral industry as well.
The state government had successfully auctioned 21 lapsing merchant mines and Letters of Intent (LoIs) were issued to all successful bidders. But a countrywide lockdown and unavailability of manpower and truckers owing to the widespread Coronavirus scare had cast doubts on the future of their operations.
Earlier in Apr’20, in a letter to the state forest & environment department, Deepak Mohanty, director of mines and special secretary (steel & mines) has urged for collection of NPV (or Net Present Value) at the rate of Rs 7.5 lakh per hectare. The collection of NPV will enable the state authorities to issue vesting orders- a prerequisite for recommencing mining from the merchant leases. The state steel & mines department would issue vesting orders under the provisions of Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2020.
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