The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015 got Parliament's approval in the nick of time as today was the last day of the first half of Budget session and the ordinances on these were to lapse on April 5.
The bills had been passed by Lok Sabha earlier this month but in Rajya Sabha these faced strong opposition and had to be sent to two respective Select Committees. The committees gave their reports on Wednesday, leaving only two days for their passage.
The bill was passed after much controversy and procedural wrangling in the Upper House as several parties, barring Congress, Left and JD(U) supported it. JD-U members walked out before the voting saying they did not want to be part of the procedure.
It was passed with 117 members voting in favour and 69 against it. An amendment moved by P Rajeeve (CPI-M) was defeated.
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The Coal bill was approved by Rajya Sabha after several amendments moved by the Congress and Left were defeated.
Lok Sabha had already passed the bill on March 4.