The bill on the development of mines and minerals, paving the way for auction of blocks for prospecting, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Friday even as the opposition parties, notably the Congress and Left Front, wanted it referred again to the select committee.
The bill was pressed for voting -- 117 members were in favour and 69 against it.
Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar also moved a couple of amendments to the bill based on the recommendations of the relevant select committee. The bill in the amended form will now be discussed in the Lok Sabha.
Once it gets presidential consent, the new legislation will replace the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance of 2015), promulgated on January 12. The original bill was approved on March 18 by the Lok Sabha, which will discuss now discus the amendments.
The taking up of the bill in the upper house had to be deferred on Thursday as the opposition parties said that mineral-bearing states had not been consulted in preparation of the bill and wanted the select committee, which had sent it back without changes on March 18, to take a re-look.
The select committee, nevertheless, wanted the government to consider issues like the impact of mining activities on the environment, rampant illegal mining, lack of scientific mine closures, land acquisition and resettlement and use of windfall profits for local and tribal welfare.
Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the new act will allow states to have a say in auction and all revenues will go to them.
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"Mining contributes over 2 percent to the GDP but is in deep crisis. It is one of the biggest employers. A revival will give jobs to our youth."
He said there was also an urgent need for a transparent system since iron ore production, for example, had declined to 152 million tonnes in 2013-14 from 218 million tonnes in 2009-10.
Primarily, the new bill seeks to introduce a regime of auction to grant prospecting licences, like for coal blocks. It proposes that there will no renewal of mining concessions, unlike the original act of 1957. But it proposes a licence for 50 years, as against 30 now.
The government has already identified 199 mines for auction.
The proposed legislation also calls for the setting up a District Mineral Foundation where mining takes place that will address the grievances of the people affected by mining, with a contribution not exceeding a third of the royalty rate.
Another body, the National Mineral Exploration Trust, shall be appointed by the central government for regional and pan-India planning.
Some opposition parties, led by Biju Janata Dal, opposed it saying it infringed on the rights of states -- a stand earlier supported by the Congress and Trinamool Congress. The opposition had also prevented its introduction in the Rajya Sabha where the treasury is in minority.
But on Friday, the Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party supported it.
Among its other salient features, the new act, once in force, will add a new schedule to include mining of bauxite, iron ore, limestone and manganese ore, now called notified minerals, under its purview.
The new act will call for state governments to grant mining leases and prospecting license-cum-mining leases for notified and other minerals, with the central government's approval, which will prescribe the terms and conditions for selection of bidders as also the procedure for auction.
The central government may also reserve some mines exclusively for some specific purposes, as also set the eligibility conditions for the same.
To plug another loophole that leads to arbitrariness, the central government will be permitted to increase the area allowed for mining, instead of granting additional leases.
Presently, while 10 sq km is set as maximum limit for prospecting per lessee, a leeway is given to alter this.