“With the state governments pressuring the Centre to revise of royalty rates or make it ad valorem in view of increasing their revenue, the Centre is now working in this regard,” Mining Minister B K Handique told reporters here.
Earlier, there was a proposal to increase the royalty rates for minerals, but the government deferred a decision on the matter till September. This was done to prevent higher royalty rates affecting mineral prices which would trigger inflation further.
The changes are expected to nearly double royalty earnings in the mineral-rich states to Rs 4,000 crore annually. The state governments are desperate for revision of royalty rates as they were last revised four years ago.
The government will place the new national mining policy in Parliament by the winter session which would allow foreign direct investment in the exploration of capital-intensive minerals like copper, nickel and chromium.
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