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GoM allows bidding for mineral licences

Last Updated 18 July 2011, 19:17 IST

“On the concerns of the State Government of Chhattisgarh and Orissa, the GoM (Group of Ministers) agreed to the introduction of suitable provisions on allowing the state governments to call for competitive bids on areas where direct prospecting licences are filed,” the panel recommended in its recent meeting.

A panel, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is  of the view that the move may  yield better value for the deposits. The meeting was convened to iron out inter-ministerial differences on new mining legislation——Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill.

States had, earlier, opposed a provision of the bill, which proposed that “first-come-first serve” route will be adopted for granting large area prospecting licences (LAPLs) instead of competitive bidding method. Prospecting Licence (PL) is granted for undertaking operations for the purpose of exploring, locating or providing mineral deposit.

The LAPLs allow companies to prospect for mineral deposits in unknown mineralised large tracts of land — 5,000 sq km and above—for eight years.

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(Published 18 July 2011, 19:17 IST)

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