New Delhi | Jan 14, 2015: The central government has relinquished its right to accord prior approval to any proposal of granting mining leases to the states and has empowered the state governments to process the leases on their own in the mining ordinance promulgated on Monday.

This is considered a significant move as it abolishes decades-old system of allowing the Centre the right to veto any proposal deemed unworthy. Hitherto, in respect of ten minerals including iron ore, bauxite and copper, the states were mandated to process only those proposals for mining leases which have been vetted by the union mines ministry.

The mining community has been arguing that under this system, their applications are getting tossed to and fro from the Centre to the states. In the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, the government has done away with this provision except for atomic minerals. Even for vetting the mining plans, the state governments have been asked to devise a system for filing of aplan thereby removing the need for Centre’s approval, the ordinance says.

Through the ordinance, the government has removed its own discretion in granting leases as the concessions would, henceforth, be auctioned for transparency. Also sparing the miners from seeking repeated clearances for their leases, the ordinance says that leases would now be granted for 50 years in place of 30 years.

Further, central government has been given powers to intervene where state governments do not pass orders within prescribed time lines.

To encourage deeper exploration of minerals, the ordinance has proposed setting up of a National Mineral Exploration Trust to be created out of contribution from the lease holders.

(Source: http://indianexpress.com/)