New Delhi, April 6 The government on Monday notified amendments to the mining concession rules, allowing licensed operators to expand exploration, a move that is expected to unlock deep-seated critical minerals and help in efforts towards self-reliance in the sector.
The amendments will enable the inclusion of contiguous areas in mining leases and composite licenses, as well as the addition of associated minerals to leases of major and minor minerals.
Allowing the inclusion of contiguous areas will promote the optimal mining of deep-seated minerals, which are locked up in contiguous areas and may not be economically viable to be extracted under a separate lease or license, the mines ministry said in a statement.
The amended rules lay down a simple and time-bound process for holders of mining leases or composite licenses for deep-seated minerals to apply for a one-time addition of nearby land, it said.
The added area cannot exceed 10 per cent of the existing lease area or 30 per cent of the license area. For auctioned leases, the holder must pay 10 per cent of the auction premium on minerals from the added land, while non-auctioned lease holders need to pay an amount equal to the royalty on such output, it said.
The reforms ushered in by the amendment give impetus to the mining sector to increase the supply of minerals for industries, leading to strengthening Atmanirbhar Bharat, the statement said.
The amendments provide the inclusion of any other mineral, including a minor mineral, in a mining lease and mandate states to permit such inclusion within 30 days of the application.
No additional amount is applicable on inclusion of critical and strategic mineral or deep-seated minerals specified in the Seventh Schedule to the MMDR Act to incentivize production of these minerals, which are found in small quantity and are difficult to mine and process, the ministry said.