New Delhi | March 10, 2017: State governments are likely to earn over Rs1.5 trillion in royalty from the 100 mines they are preparing to auction in 2017-18, according to an estimate by the Union mines ministry, which is handholding states in the auctions.

Mining lease auctions in the last two years, which initially lacked momentum due to muted commodity prices in world markets, are picking up pace in line with rising prices. The government had in January 2015 replaced administrative allocation of mines with auctions by changing the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957.

Arun Kumar, secretary in the ministry of mines, said the 21 rounds of auctions held recently by states will fetch them Rs73,300 crores over the life of the lease period, which is usually 50 years. “Going forward, revenue from mining lease auctions will increase. The proposed 100 mining lease auctions could fetch states about Rs1.5 trillion, as per a very conservative estimate,” said Kumar.

Mineral production in the April-January period of 2016-17 jumped 9% in quantity and 10.6% in value as commodity prices firmed up in global markets. Iron ore production, the largest among all non-oil mining output, grew 8% by value to Rs19,417 crore and 27% by volume to 154 million tonnes during the period from a year ago. Output of limestone, used in cement production, expanded by 3% by volume to 256 million tonnes and 10.6% by value to Rs5,477 crore during the April-January period of 2016-17 from a year ago.

The government wants to expand the areas under mineral exploration to raise the sector’s share in the country’s economic output by one percentage point from 2.4% now.

Kumar said the satellite-aided mining surveillance system introduced last October has led to detection of 29 cases of unauthorised mining across the country, representing 15% of the cases flagged by the system and investigated by states.

(Source: http://www.livemint.com/)