Saturday, September 18,
A ministerial panel, headed by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, has reached a consensus to give a go ahead to the draft mining bill, which seeks that miners share 26% of profits with the local people who get affected by their projects.
The new bill has proposed that a fund — District Mineral Foundation — be created and the beneficiaries be paid out from it.
Besides, it proposes that in case of a mine being non-functional or in losses, the firms should compensate the people affected by land acquisition, by paying them the amount equal to the royalty given to state governments.
The royalty paid by mining companies to State Governments runs into hundreds of crores of rupees.
The new bill seeks to speed up the grant of mineral concessions in a transparent manner and attract big investments in the sector.
Mr Handique said the Ministry plans to introduce the bill in the winter session of Parliament to replace the existing Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation Act (MMDR Act), 1957.
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