New rules to regulate mining companies soon: Tomar

Union Minister for Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said that the Centre will come out with new rules in a week’s time to regulate mining companies in the country.

Speaking to reporters here, the minister said that the ministry is in the process of preparing the rules, which will be sent to state governments for implementation. “The rules will be framed this week and will be sent to the state government by end of April.

The entire mining sector regulation and development will be based on these rules,” he explained. Tomar also said that these rules will apply to all the minerals available in the country, with the exception of coal.

Explaining the significance of the rules, the minister said that the state governments will be empowered to form district mineral foundation, which will ensure development of the ďistrict affected due to grant of mining leases. "The foundation, which will be formed by the state government, will get one third of the royalty received from the miners locally. This fund will be utilised to study the impact on the people and the area covered by the mining lease, to mitigate the adverse impact,” he said.

“The states will not get royalty less than Rs 14,000 crores. The foundations will be getting one third of this amount,” he added.

“The government hopes to open new avenues for creating employment through this. A  National Mineral Exploration Trust will be formed for this purpose. Two per cent of the total royalty obtained from mining will be reserved for this purpose,” he said.
Malay Chatterjee, Managing Director, Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL),  said that with all the available infrastructure with these public sector units, it might not need more than Rs 1,000 crore for exploration activities.

Asked about the pending mining lease to KIOCL from the State Government, the Minister said that under the new Mines and Mineral Development and Regulations (MMDR) Act, the PSUs will be given priority.

“Moreover, KIOCL being a State utility, the government must revive. I will meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and discuss,” he said.