Mining Activity

Mining tax by states: Tata Steel to file curative petition in Supreme Court

On July 25, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that states have the power to levy cess on mining and mineral-use activities. Tata Steel's petition seeks a remedy to this order

GCCI seeks urgent review of Supreme Court's mineral taxation ruling

The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) has demanded an urgent review of the mineral taxation ruling by the Supreme Court, stating that the increased cost of mining will inevitably lead to higher prices for essential commodities, including steel, power and cement. The Supreme Court last month allowed states to collect past dues on royalty on minerals bearing land from the Centre and mining companies from April 1, 2005 onwards. "The imposition of further taxes/ cess/ levies, if any, as permitted by the ruling, will further impact the economics of mining operations possibly making it unviable with its natural consequences. Additionally, the increased cost of mining will inevitably lead to higher prices for essential commodities e.g., steel, power, cement, etc. further fuelling inflation and consequential impact on the nation's economy," GCCI said in a statement. The possible impact would be a change of goalpost particularly when the auction regime is in vogue post enactment

SC verdict to hit mining firms; Tata Steel, JSW Steel to see lower profits

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, and other companies may see higher costs and reduced profitability from new state-imposed mining taxes, leading to inflation, following a Supreme Court decision

38 critical blocks on sale unlikely to accrue benefits in this decade: ICRA

Icra on Wednesday said that benefits from the 38 critical mineral blocks that have been put on sale are not likely to accrue in the current decade ending 2030 as the mines are not fully explored. "The preliminary stage of exploration for most of the domestic blocks that are currently being auctioned suggests that their commercialisation and associated benefits are unlikely to fully accrue in the current decade ending 2030. Therefore, India's downstream manufacturing facilities are likely to remain exposed to potential future supply shocks of critical minerals in the intervening years," Icra said in a statement. The government is auctioning two lithium blocks in the ongoing auctions. The one in Jammu & Kashmir has clay deposits. While the technology for extracting lithium from hard rock and brine deposits has matured, the same for extracting lithium from clay deposits remains untested globally. Given these challenges, the J&K lithium block received less than three bids, ...

Rajasthan govt to expedite auction of minor and major mine blocks

To prevent illegal mining, the state will prioritise preparing and auctioning as many mining blocks as possible

SC halts new mining leases in 4 states to safeguard Aravalli ecosystem

The Supreme Court injunction in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi will not affect existing mining operations

Rs 1 trillion at stake in mineral tax tussle between Centre and states

As Centre and states contest the issue of taxation rights in court, CAGR of revenue from coal stands at 13.8% during 2014-23

Mineral output increases by 5.1% in December, says mines ministry

India's mineral output increased by 5.1 per cent in December as compared to the year-ago period, the government said on Thursday. The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of December, 2023 at 139.4 is 5.1 per cent higher as compared to the level witnessed in the corresponding month of 2022, the mines ministry said in a statement. The cumulative growth rate in the mining and quarrying sector for the April-December period of the current fiscal over the corresponding period of previous financial year is 8.5 per cent, as per the provisional statistics of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM). In December, the production of coal stood at 929 lakh tonnes while that of lignite at 40 lakh tonnes, iron ore at 255 lakh tonnes and limestone at 372 lakh tonnes. Production of lignite, limestone, coal, bauxite and natural gas showed positive growth. However, a negative growth was registered in the production of petroleum (crude), gold, chromite, phosphorite and ...

Bihar achieves just 51.78% of mining revenue collection target till Feb 14

The Mines and Geology department of Bihar government has expressed concern over revenue collections falling short of the target and warned officials of strict disciplinary action if they fail to get their act together before the financial year comes to a close. Officials have managed to achieve just Rs 1,896.43 crore of its revenue target of Rs 3,662.39 crore for 2023-24 from the mining sector till February 14, 2024, according to documents. As per the latest review meeting chaired by the Director of Mines and Geology the department has achieved 51.78 per cent of the mining revenue collection target till February 14. In some districts such as Nalanda, Kaimur, Gaya, Aurangabad, Nawada, Jehanabad, Lakhisarai, Jamui, Munger, Kishanganj, Banka, Bhagalpur and Saran the revenue collection is less than 50 per cent, it said. "If the revenue collection in these districts does not increase immediately, strict disciplinary action will be initiated against the concerned officials of these ...

40 bids received via offline mode for coal mines auction, says govt

The coal ministry on Monday said it has received 40 bids through offline mode for the coal mines put for sale under the ninth round of commercial auction. The government had launched the ninth round of commercial mines auction in December last year. "The Ministry of Coal has received an overwhelming response for the coal mines offered under the ninth round of commercial coal mine auctions. A total of 40 bids have been received in offline form," an official statement said. The ninth tranche of auction was launched for 32 coal mines. The last date for submission of bids was February 19, 2024. The online bids received as part of the auction process along with the offline bids will be opened on Tuesday in presence of bidders. In 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the auction process for 41 coal blocks for commercial mining, a move that opened India's coal sector for private players.

Offshore mineral blocks' auction process to begin in 2-3 months: Secy

The government will begin the auction process for offshore mineral blocks in the next two-three months, Mines Secretary V L Kantha Rao said on Thursday. "...Ministry of Mines will start the auction process in next 2-3 months for these offshore blocks," he said. The government already has 35 offshore mineral blocks identified by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for auction, Rao said, adding that 24 more blocks are in the pipeline which will be given to the mines ministry for sale, an official statement said. "As the process of auctioning of offshore blocks for exploration and exploitation is a new domain, for this initiative to succeed in a meaningful way, Mines Ministry is working on the Amendments in the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development & Regulation) Act, 2002," he said. Moreover, the Centre is also in the process of developing a standard operating procedures to be followed if a private sector bidder wins the block for exploration, Rao said. The secretary was speaking at a

Karnataka HC bans mining around KRS dam, till safety survey completion

Expressing concern over the mining blasts affecting the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) dam in Srirangapatna, Mandya, the High Court of Karnataka on Monday imposed a ban on mining and blasting activities within a 20-km radius of the structure. The ban issued on Monday will be in force till the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, conducts a dam safety survey. However, the HC has not fixed any deadline for the study to be undertaken under the Dam Safety Act, 2022. The HC had earlier made the State Committee on Dam Safety (SCDS) a party to the petition. The division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit were hearing a petition filed by one CG Kumar who had challenged the deputy commissioner's order that conversion of land for stone quarrying would be granted only after a trial blast was conducted by the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited. Kumar had challenged this condition as being illegal. The petition was however converted to a public ...

Centre allows notified pvt exploration agencies in mineral blocks auction

The mines ministry on Friday said it has permitted notified private exploration agencies to participate in the auction of critical and deep-seated mineral blocks explored by them. The development will attract bigger mining companies in the exploration arena and is likely to encourage junior mining companies from around the world to come to India and take up exploration projects with National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) funding. The ministry further said it has also launched a new scheme to directly sanction projects for exploration of critical and deep-seated minerals to notified private exploration agencies (NPEAs). This new scheme will help bring new technologies in the field of exploration. The decision to allow NPEAs to directly submit projects in Ministry of Mines will help cut delays in sanction of projects as well as fast-track execution of projects. The move aims at giving a fillip to exploration of critical and deep-seated minerals. "Ministry of Mines has launched a

TMS Ep575: Dubai COP28, CEO-board relation, BSE Midcap, rat hole mining

Why is Dubai COP28 important? Altman and OpenAI: What's the role of the board? BSE m-cap @$4trn: Will the optimism last? What is rat hole mining? All answers here

U'khand HC bans mechanised mining in riverbeds, asks DMs to seize machines

The Uttarakhand High Court on Monday banned mechanised mining in riverbeds in the state. A division bench of High Court Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice RC Khulbe passed these orders while hearing a PIL. All the district magistrates have been asked to ensure compliance by issuing this order. The PIL, filed by Haldwani resident Gagan Parashar and others, has alleged that heavy machinery is being used for mining in the state's riverbeds. The petition also states that there is a difference in the rates of 'royalty' in government and private mining. In this regard, the Bench asked the State Mines Secretary that the rate of mining 'royalty' on the website of the Forest Development Corporation has been mentioned as Rs 31 per quintal, while on the website of private miners it is Rs 12 per quintal. The Mines Secretary has been directed to file an affidavit in the court in this regard by January 12. The court has also ordered the DMs to confiscate the machines being used for sand min

Centre allows 13 private agencies to do mining exploration operations

With this, there are now a total of 22 private agencies which are engaged in mineral exploration

Govt receives 38 bids for commercial mines' auction, says Coal Ministry

The coal ministry on Monday said that it has received a total of 38 bids during three rounds of commercial coal mines' auctions. The online bids received as part of the auction process will be opened on Tuesday from 10 AM onwards in the presence of interested prospective bidders, coal ministry said in a statement. "The last date for submission of online technical bids for all the coal mines was 1200 hours on June 27, 2022 and offline submission was 1600 hours on June 27, 2022," it said. According to the coal ministry statement, a total of 28 offline bids were received against 15 coal mines under fifth tranche of commercial mines' auction. Under second attempt of third tranche, a total of nine coal mines were put up for sale and six bids have been received against them, the statement said. Under second attempt of fourth round, a total of four coal mines were put up for auctions and four bids have been received against three coal mines. The fifth round, second attempt of fourth and

Chhattisgarh govt puts 3 coal mine projects allotted to RRVUNL on hold

The projects are facing strong opposition by locals and activists who claim that mining in the biodiversity-rich and ecologically sensitive Hasdeo Arand region will not only displace tribals and cause

Deliberate illegal mining by mafia to tarnish govt image: Jharkhand CM

The chief minister asked officials to develop an effective mechanism to curb illegal mining and install CCTV cameras at the affected spots

IIP rises by 1.7% in Feb from 1.3% a month earlier on mining push

Mining grew at a faster 4.5% in February, from 2.8% in Jan; Mfg growth slipped to 0.8% from 1.1%