The government is considering revising mineral-wise area caps in a move to ensure a fair and equitable chance for allocation of natural resources to micro, small and medium enterprises.
A suggested amendment proposes 20 sq km as cap for total area held by one person or individual company as mining rights Odisha, as against the earlier 58 sq km, and at 10sq for all other states. While individual lessees sough relaxations in the past, post 2015 caps could only be decided for the state. On the individual’s states request the area limit was for increased, in Odisha’s case to 58 sq km allowing companies like Tata Steel that already held mining right to iron ore mine to partcipate successfully in auctions.
A committee chaired by by Director General of Geological Survey of India (GSI) with experts from IBM as members had studied caps for various minerals and states. To prevent a control over disproportionally large mineral bearing areas by one individual and ensure a fair and equitable access over natural resources the ministry suggest new area limits, general and specific to ferrous mineral rich state such as Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
Rights already granted to lessees under the earlier expanded individual state limits, will continue to be recognised till the end of the lease term, at which point the new area limit will be applicable on them too.
Along with this, the government is also doing away with the needs for Forest Clearance for exploration. This was recommended by a High-Level Committee (HLC) of NITI Aayog. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had also issued a consultation paper and noted, that survey and investigation activities were carried for a short period of 3-5 years with no perceptible change in the forest land or the biodiversity, even before proposing actual non-forestry activity on forest land.
Once parliament approves these amendments, states will no longer need prior Central Government to auction composite licenses of notified minerals, i.e., bauxite, iron ore, limestone and manganese. The ministry believes this is essential to speeding up exploration and boost mineral production.
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