By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 20, 2015 :

The ruling Biju Janata Dal [BJD], which had earlier opposed the Bill, lent its support to the government for passage of the Bill while the Congress and the Left parties opposed the Bill and JD-U chose to stage a walkout.

The government had brought this Bill as an ordinance and the Lok Sabha has already passed it. Now the Bill will go to the President for his consent which will convert it into an Act.

The Amendment Bill, 2015, became necessary to address the emergent problems in the mining industry. In the last few years, the number of new Mining Leases granted in the country has fallen substantially while, second and subsequent renewals have also been affected by certain Supreme Court judgements. As a result, the output in the mining sector has come down drastically, leading to import of minerals by users of those minerals.

The Upper House which had witnessed a deadlock on Thursday rejected the motion moved by the CPI (M) to send the Bill to a Select Committee passed the Bill through a division with 117 votes in favour and 69 against. Apart from the BJD, the TMC, Samajvadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party voted in favour of the Bill.

The BJD claimed that it supported the Bill in the interest of the state. “We had objected since there was no provision in the Bill for funds for development of the areas where mining was to be undertaken. During the visit of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, we had raised this issue following which the government considered our proposal and made an amendment in the Bill providing for such funds which will be highly beneficial for mineral bearing states like ours which will result in more revenue other than the 15% royalty of the mineral extracted. We welcome the Bill”, said Bhatruhari Mahatab, Leader of the BJD parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill envisages spending of a fixed percentage of revenue generated from mining on the development of the local area.

As per its provisions, there will be no renewal of any mining concession, unlike the original act of 1957. Also, the licence will be for 50 years, as against 30 now, after which there will be no renewal but compulsory auction.

The government has already identified 199 mines for auction.
Increased revenue that state governments created a divisions among the opposition to the Bill. The mines bill, like the land bill and coal bill, ratifies an ordinance or temporary executive order that will lapse on April 5. Another key reform, the Insurance Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with the support of the Congress.

Significantly, the Amendment removes discretion in the grant of mineral concessions. All mineral concessions are granted by the respective State Governments. They will continue to do so but all grants of mineral concessions would be through auctions, thereby bringing in greater transparency and removing discretion. This should also mean that the Government will get an increased share from the mining sector. Unlike in the 1957 Act, there would be no renewal of any mining concession. The tenure of mineral concessions has been increased from the existing 30 years to 50 years. Thereafter, all Mining Lease would be put up for auction (and not for renewal as in the earlier system).