Hon.
Chairman Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on this Bill.
This Bill is in the direction taken by the Government to revive the economy
following the pandemic. It will give a boost to the mining sector, especially
commercial coal mining, and attract more investment into the sector. However,
in spite of a number of amendments, which have been made in the original Act,
the mining sector is still not liberated. In order to fully harness the
potential of the mineral sector and to increase employment and investment in
the mining sector and to increase the revenue to the States, it is extremely
necessary to further amend the Act.
I
would like to inform the House about the main changes that are going to be
brought in through this Bill. First, the Bill seeks to140 remove the distinction between captive
and merchant mines by providing for auction of mines in future without
restriction of captive160 use
of minerals. Second, it allows existing captive mines to sell up to 50 per cent
of the minerals produced after meeting the requirement of the linked end-use
plants to ensure optimal mining of mineral resources and specify the additional
amount to be changed on such sale. This is indeed a much-required move. The
sale of minerals by captive plants would definitely facilitate an increase in
production and supply of minerals and ensure economies of scale in mineral
production which ultimately will help in stabilizing the price of ore in the
market and bring in additional revenue to the States. Third, the State
Governments have already taken sufficient steps to bring more and more
transparency in the auction process. Moreover, 280
there are apprehensions that this amendment would allow the Union Government to
prefer certain bidders. These provisions are taking over the ownership of the
State Government over the mines. The State Governments must have a larger role
in auctioning320 the mines.
Under cooperative federalism, States should be allowed to exercise their right
to bring their mines to auction after considering all the associated
parameters. The Bill also proposes to fix additional royalty payments to the
States for extension of mining leases for Central Public Sector Enterprises,
but this may lead to lower revenues for the States compared to a transparent
auction process.
The
current Bill also ensures that all the approvals, clearances and licences
granted to a lessee in respect of a mine shall continue to be valid even after
the expiry or termination of the lease and such clearances420 shall be transferred to and vested with
the successful bidder of the mining lease. This will ensure continuity in
mining operations even with change of lessee, conservation of minerals and avoid
repetitive and redundant process of obtaining clearances again for the same
mine. Another major point in the Bill is that the restrictions on transfer of
mineral concessions for480
non-auctioned mines to attract fresh investment and new technology in the
sector have been removed. This is also a welcome move and will help in freeing
up the sector. The Bill also empowers the Central Government to notify the area
and conduct auction in cases where the State Governments face difficulty in
notifying the areas and conducting auction or fail to notify the area or
conduct auction. This will ensure auction of a greater number of mineral blocks
on regular basis560 for
continuous supply of minerals in the country. For this clause, I request the
Government to have regular and periodic discussions with the State Governments
and also take into account the views of all stakeholders because this clause
can be used arbitrarily and will be contentious in future also. So, definitely it
should not be an infringement on the federal structure of the country.
I
have a few suggestions on this Bill. I request the Central Government to have640 a single-window clearance facility and to
empower the State Governments to clear projects within a small area at the
State level itself. Right now, a lot of time is getting wasted due to
unnecessary paper pushing between the States and the Centre. If this is sorted
out, I believe we can free up the sector. Our learned Minister also stated that700 if the State Government is strong, the
Central Government is also going to be strong. Therefore, in the present
circumstances, as per the financial position, we have to change Acts now and
then. Sir, there are certain points that have been included in this Bill. The first
is the removal of restriction on end use of minerals and the second is the sale
of minerals by captive mines. The third point is the auction by the Central
Government in certain cases and the fourth is the transfer of statutory
clearances. The fifth point is the allocation of mines with800 expired leases and the sixth one is the
rights of certain existing concession holders. Another point is the extension
of leases to Government companies. There are conditions for lapse of mining
leases and non-exclusive reconnaissance permit.
There
are a few areas840 of
improvement which I would like to put forward. The Ministry of Mines is
proposing to allow captive mines holders to sell up to 50 percent of the
minerals excavated during the current year after meeting the requirement of the
attached plant. The proposal said that the Government would charge an
additional amount on extension of mining leases of both coal and non-coal Government
companies. As commercialization of coal mining is encouraged to end the import
of coal in India and shorten the trade deficit, the Government fails to recognize
the fact that we already have overcapacity and it is against the country's clean
energy transition plan. It would have an adverse impact on the environment. I
urge the960 Government not to
allow the commercial mining of coal as it defeats the very purpose of auction. There
is a need980 to allow
expenditure from this fund for road construction, health, education, and rural
development schemes. One long-awaited correction on transfer of mineral
concessions proposes that there will be no charges on transfer of mineral
concessions for non-auctioned captive mines. However, the proposed amendment
falls short of another much-needed change that is, giving the first right of
refusal on mining or selling the rights to the explorer. Therefore, in order to
boost exploration, the National Mineral Exploration Trust must be made an
autonomous body. This was also recommended by the Parliamentary Standing
Committee. I hope the hon. Minister would take note of the suggestion and
incorporate this accordingly. I thank the hon. Minister for bringing this
amendment in the Bill.
Hon.
Chairperson. Sir, it seems to me that this Bill is an attempt to open the
mining sector to big business. 1120
Now, the Government may say that we are doing it for the sake of employment.
But you have to remember that most of the mines and minerals are in the
tribal-inhabited forest areas. In the name of establishing mines, big companies
are uprooting the poor tribals. You should take a holistic view and take care
of the interests of tribals and the environment. If you just open up the mines
and people come for making profits, then we will end up having more insurgency
in the country. I would request the hon. Minister to take note of this. I shall
also request him to take note of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution. The
Fifth Schedule deals with the provision relating to the administration and
control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes. Now, you are setting up these
mines in1260 the areas
inhabited by the Scheduled Tribes. Without the permission of the local Gram Sabha,
mines cannot be set up1280 and
lands cannot be transferred in Scheduled Areas. If the Government violates
that, it will be a violation of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution. Let us
also remember that the Government is taking a pro-capital view with regard to
the mines. The Government says that it will open up the coal sector to 100 per
cent Foreign Direct Investment. I am totally opposed to this. Shrimati Indira
Gandhi nationalized the coal mines from Coal India Limited which is one of the
biggest companies in the world. It brought some discipline and some method in
the coal industry. Now, we are opening up 100 per cent Foreign Direct
Investment, which means, foreign companies will come and take up coal blocks1400 in tribal areas and exploit them to
their advantage. Madam, as you know well, we have minerals like coal, iron ore,
bauxite, manganese, granite and so on. Now bauxite is used for aluminium. We
have big companies to exploit bauxite1440
resources. They are coming up near the mines. What is the Minister trying to do
now? He is removing the restrictions on end use of minerals. That means, it
does not matter if you are captive to a certain company; it will empower the
Central Government to reserve any mine to be leased through auction for a
particular end use. The Bill provides that no mine will be reserved for a
particular end use. So, you can take lease of a mine and sell the produce in
the international market. The other provision is that the captive mines are now
being allowed to sell 50 per cent of their produce to private parties. That is
also not good, because the idea of captive mines will go away totally. 1568
