Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill:
Lok Sabha passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation), Amendment Bill, 2021 to streamline the renewal of the auction process for minerals and coal mining rights.
- The amendment proposes to allow captive miners of both coal and other minerals to sell up to 50 percent of their production after meeting the requirements of the end-use plant and on paying additional royalty to the state government.
- Operators are currently only allowed to use coal and minerals extracted from captive mines for their own industrial use.
- This increased flexibility would allow miners to maximize output from captive mines as they would be able to sell output in excess of their own requirements.
- The amendment also proposes to fix additional royalty payments to states for the extension of mining leases for central public sector enterprises.
- The Bill also proposes to empower the central government to conduct auctions or re-auction processes for the grant of a mining lease if a state government fails to complete the auction process in a specified period, decided after consultations between the Centre and state.
