VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has urged the Central government to provide relief to hundreds of mining lease applicants affected by recent changes in the classification of laterite mineral deposits. He informed that the new rules have brought the lease approval process in the Dtate to a standstill.
In a letter addressed to the Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday, the Chief Minister highlighted the challenges arising from the Centre’s recent decision to classify laterite containing 20 per cent or more aluminium content as bauxite, thereby treating it as a major mineral instead of a minor mineral.
Naidu said the policy change has significantly impacted Andhra Pradesh, where a large number of mining lease applications were being processed under the earlier classification. The Chief Minister said that the State government had been forced to temporarily suspend processing of 402 mining lease applications pending clarification on the new norms.
The stalled applications include 19 Letter of Intent (LoI) cases, 113 applications related to government land, 255 involving forest land and 15 concerning private patta land, he noted.
The Chief Minister pointed out that hundreds of applicants had already invested substantial amounts under the previous regulatory framework, including payments towards application fees, land acquisition and obtaining mandatory forest clearances.
The sudden change in classification has created uncertainty and could result in significant financial losses for investors and lease applicants.
Drawing attention to past precedents, Naidu recalled that the Centre had provided a ‘saving clause’ when minerals such as mica, quartz, feldspar and barytes were reclassified from minor minerals to major minerals.
Such provisions allowed pending applications to be processed under the earlier rules during a transition period.
Seeking similar relief for Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister requested the Union Government to introduce a saving clause for laterite mineral leases and permit the 402 pending applications to be processed under the previous rules.
