Hyderabad | June 9, 2016: The New Mining and Exploration Policy is likely to be finalised and announced next month, according to Union Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar.
During a meeting here, where Indian Bureau of Mines and National Institute of Smart Government inked a memorandum to develop a web based application to help rate mines, he said the policy is ready and will be put up for Cabinet approval. This time, even exploration has been included in the policy framework, he said.
Speaking after the announcement to launch a new star rating system for mines, aimed at ensuring sustainable development of mines, the Mines Secretary said the policy will be notified within a month.
The Star Rating System has been designed by the Indian Bureau of Mines and it will become mandatory for mine operators to opt for the rating system from one star to five stars on a scale of 100. Based on their compliance, they will be rated from one to five star. This rating will decide whether a mine or a project should be allowed to continue.
The Indian Bureau of Mines has been assigned the task to oversee its implementation at the Sukinda Chromite mine of Tata Steel in Odisha. This is part of the government’s Sustainable Development Framework.
“The new rating system will be launched at Raipur in the first week of July coinciding with the National Mining Conclave. During the conclave, a number of companies will come out with their self certification of the rating system based on various compliance parameters. They will then be ratified by an independent third party appraiser,” he said.
The star rating system is a web-enabled system or evaluation of measures undertaken for sustainable mining, right through the entire lifecycle of a mine, ending with mine closure.
Referring to the Mineral Tenement System, he said, “A vendor for its implementation will be chosen within a month to oversee the implementation of real time management of the regulatory framework. The date is fed real time through an application and enable the government to better monitor the mining sector and make it a fully electronic system.
Backed by satellite imagery, the system will help monitor mines on a real time basis.
TCS, L&T Infotech and Wipro are among companies short-listed for the project. Along with satellite based monitoring system with National Remote Sensing Agency and Indian Bureau of Mines, it will help curb illegal mining, he said.
(Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/)