Effective regulations and coherent policy essential for mining sector

The Ministry of Mines is now proposing a major shift in policy that can bring more than 700 mineral blocks into the auction mandate

Kickstarting the economy is fortunately back on the agenda and from the various government statements it appears that mining, specifically mineral exploration, is about to see significant action. The Prime Minister has tasked officials with benchmarking the sector to international standards and major policy changes are being proposed. Statements alluding to ramping up mining auctions are also doing the rounds.
 

The challenge for the sector actually lies at the very first stage of the mining cycle — in India’s mining exploration policy and implementation. Recall that the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015 was in response to the