BHUBANESWAR : After giving relaxation to area limit for grant of mining lease for three states, the Centre has proposed to amend the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 to put a ceiling on mineral-wise lease area limits for each State.
A high-level committee constituted by the Ministry of Mines has recommended 50 square kilometre (sq km) iron ore area limit for granting prospecting license (PL) and 20 sq km for mining lease (ML) for Odisha. The area limit for other states having iron ore resources is 25 sq km for PL and 10 sq km for ML.
In September 2019, a committee of the Ministry had recommended increase in mining area limit for auction of iron ore blocks up to 58 sq km for Odisha, 75 sq km for Jharkhand and 50 sq km for Chhattisgarh by invoking Section 6 (1) and (b) of MMDR Act.
The relaxation was given by the Centre following repeated requests from several states including Odisha, which were facing difficulties in speedier auction of mineral blocks due to restriction imposed by the Delhi High Court.
“Allowing acquisition of disproportionately large mineral bearing areas would defeat the present system of auctioning of mineral concessions through fair and transparent mechanism. There is need to fix the area limits rationally to ensure that there is a fair and equitable chance for allocation of natural resources for common good,” said a notice issued by the Mines Ministry for consultation on May 25, 2022.
In order to give stability to the proposed area limits, the Ministry proposed to amend section 6 of the MMDR Act and incorporate the recommended mineral-wise and State-wise area limits in form of a Schedule to the MMDR Act. “Where PL or ML has already been executed or letter of intent upon auction issued or reservation made for the same in accordance with the present area relaxation but would be in violation of the proposed area limits, such PL or ML shall continue till its expiry or termination with area limit initially allowed,” the notification said.
As per Section 6 of the MMDR Act, the maximum area limit is 10,000 sq km for reconnaissance permit (RP), 25 sq km for PL and 10 sq km for ML. The committee has recommended area limit of 50 sq km for PL and 20 sq km for ML for bauxite for all states while for other minerals like atomic, coal, manganese and chromite is 25 sq km for pl and 10 sq km for ML.