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New bill will hike cost of mining, say miners

Last Updated 22 March 2015, 20:21 IST

With Parliament passing Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015, the mining industry says the cost of the mining will go up as the new law mandates miners to pay more for project-affected people.

The bill provides for the same amount of royalty payable by existing lease holders in the District Mineral Fund (DMF) and one-third of the royalty for those who will get mines after the enactment of the new law.

Provision for payment towards DMF was not there in the 1957 Act of the same name which would be replaced by the new Act. Thus, this is an additional burden for the miners, who now pay between Rs 8 and Rs 27 per tonne.

“As miners will have to pay towards DMF, their production cost will go up which they will obviously try to pass on to end-users and as a result, common people will suffer,” miners’ body FIMI’s Secretary General R K Sharma said here.

However, the industry is happy that the new bill will bring in transparency in the allocation of mines which was so far given through the dispensation route.

At the same time, they apprehend that people with more money may hoard mines at the expense of small and marginal players leading to a situation where only a wealthy few will rule the roost.

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(Published 22 March 2015, 20:21 IST)

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