Mr.
Deputy Speaker, I am very glad that my
honourable friend should have thought of such a cut motion as the
one he has moved, because the cut motion gives the Government the opportunity
to explain its mineral policy which it had not got so far. There is so
much ignorance and so much misunderstanding about the matter that I
think it is in the interest of everybody that so important a matter
as the mineral policy of the Government of India should be explained fully to
the House. Sir, I have no doubt that there are other
Members of the House who will share the feeling that owing to the exigencies
of the timetable, the mover of the cut120
motion did not have the opportunity of making a verbal statement
explaining the points he wanted to make. I am140 (1)
very grateful to him for having cut short his speech and having given his
time to enable me to make160 a
statement.
Sir,
this is a matter in which I think it is better to be very candid and say
that the Government of India so far had really no mineral policy.
It may be a ground for complaint. But it need not be a ground for
surprise. The responsibility for the absence of a mineral policy has been
sought to be placed in certain quarters at the door of the Geological Survey
of India. I am sure that that240
is a wrong charge, and I propose to devote the first few minutes that I have in
order to dispel such an impression. I think it will be admitted that the
mineral policy of any government is necessarily dependent upon280 the industrial policy of that
government. Minerals necessarily play a (2) great part in the industrial
development of the country If the country has no industrial
policy, obviously there cannot be a mineral policy at all.
This
House is aware that320 until
the Government of India decided to have as its aim and object the
reconstruction of the economic and industrial life of this country in
the post-war period, the Government played very small part in the
industrialisation of the country.
360 All that I am trying to show is that if there
has been no mineral policy, the fault is not of the Geological Survey of
India. The fault lay with the Government of the day; the fault perhaps lay with
the Legislature and with other organisations which were interested in
the economic and industrial life of the country. The second420 reason why the Geological Survey did not
play the part that geological surveys in other parts of the world do
play is largely due to the fact that this is (3)
one of the departments which has always been under-staffed.
I would like to tell the House a little history with regard to the
staffing and the provision of the technical480
personnel of the Geological Survey of India. In 1920, sanction was obtained for
an increase in the superior gazetted staff of the Geological Survey. Unfortunately,
there was so much difficulty in getting trained personnel that it took
practically nine years to fill the requisite number. The pity of the
matter was that as soon as this number was filled, the Legislature
carried a motion for economy and almost all these men who were recruited had to
be axed. I point560 that out
in order to show that if the Geological Survey Department did not play
its part in the mineral policy of the Government of India, the Legislature
to some extent is responsible for that result.
In
the limited time600
that I have, I do not wish to dwell (4) more on the past. I wish to speak
about the future. I am glad to say that the Government of India has
now accepted the need for a definite mineral policy. 640 That is largely due to the fact that
the Government of India has taken a decision to have a drive in favour of bringing
about the industrialisation of the country. The mineral policy of the
Government of India has been set out in section 14 of the second report
on Reconstruction and Planning. I have no time to read700 section 14 or even to give the
gist of that paragraph. I have no doubt that the Members of the720 Legislature who are interested in the
matter will look up section 14 and see for themselves what exactly that
policy is.
To
summarise the matter briefly, the mineral policy of the
Government of India and the action which the Government of India proposes
to take in furtherance of that policy (5) falls into two parts. In the first place, we propose to
reconstitute the Geological Survey of India in order to make it a more
potent instrument for the furtherance of our policy. 800 Accordingly, a detailed scheme of
expansion of the survey has been drawn up and administratively approved. The
new branches of the Geological Survey which we propose to set up will
deal with engineering geology, industrial utilisation of840 minerals, central mineral development,
and oil development. It will include the establishment of a natural history
museum, and a publicity section in order to keep the public informed of what
is being done.
The
second part of our mineral policy consists of legislation, which the Government
of India proposes to initiate for the purpose of establishing control
over minerals. In defining the limits of legislative control over the minerals,
we propose to take into consideration the following circumstances. One, the
importance of the mineral from the defence point of view (6) on all India mineral development; two, the technical nature of
the mineral; three, the purposes for which the mineral is used; four,
the value of the mineral or of the products960
into the making of which the mineral enters. Our legislative provisions will
fall into two classes, or rather divide980
the minerals into two categories. In the first category will be minerals which
will be subjected to general control, and under general control we propose to
confine ourselves to the granting of prospecting and mining leases, renewal of
such licenses and termination thereof. In the second category will be
other minerals, which will be selected for more detailed control. The number of
such minerals which are suggested for more detailed control is 28. I do not
propose to detail them here. The detailed control will include the power to
grant licenses, the power to control the method of mining, processing, grading1080 and standardising, the power to direct
improvement of mining (7) and procuring methods, and also the
power to initiate research for increased utilisation and for other
necessary purposes.
I
have stated as briefly as I can the general policy
which1120 the Government of
India proposes to adopt in regard to minerals. I propose now to turn to
some of the specific points of which my honourable friend had given
notice to me. The first point to which he has referred was the export of
minerals. I would like to assure the House that in the contemplated
legislation, there will be provisions for dealing with the export
of minerals outside India. The question really is whether we can completely
stop the export1200 of our
minerals. The answer to that question must necessarily depend upon another question
whether we shall be able to import those minerals in which India is deficient
if we completely stop the export of our own minerals? As Honourable Members are
aware, India is in fact deficient in (8) such important minerals as oil,
copper, lead, zinc, tin, and sulphur. 1260
Consequently, the question of export has to be considered in the light
of the effect it may produce on our1280
ability to import things in which we are deficient.
The
course which appears safest to the Government of India is to regulate the
export of those minerals which are in short supply and which are necessary for
the industrial development of the country, and secondly, to see that we establish
in our own country such industries as will enable us to process the
raw material before it is exported to other countries. Another point to
which my honourable friend has drawn my attention is with regard
to the oil concessions. As the Honourable Members of the House know,
there exists at present a moratorium on the granting of mining
and prospecting licenses. That moratorium was introduced mainly because (9) the Government1400 of India did not desire that various oil
companies should dissipate or engage for their own
prospecting purpose technical personnel which is so deficient in its
supply in this country. That moratorium will last till the war
and some time1440 thereafter.
Now,
Sir, so far as the question of granting licenses is concerned, the
matter, since the passing of the Government of India Act, is in the hands of
the State Governments. The State Governments have been so far following the
rules that the Government of India has made under the 1919 Act. The rules
framed by the Government of India lay down that a company before it can
obtain such a license must show that it is a company which is Indian in
its personnel or that the majority of the members of the Board are British
subjects. (10) I do not know
whether my honourable friend had in mind the further question, namely, the
distinction between Indian subjects and British subjects.1564
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