Coal news and updates

New auction rules for mines & minerals by May

February 19: The Ministry of Steel and Mines will finalise the new mines and minerals auctions rules by May 2015 and send them to the states for endorsement, Mines and Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on February 19.

Inaugurating a conference on Manufacturing Signature Series 2015 under the aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi, the minister also said his ministry was making necessary provisioning in the statutes to involve private sector participation in exploration of mines and minerals.  

“By May 2015, the Ministry of Steel and Mines will have finalised the new auction rules and regulations for future as for which the mines and minerals resources be awarded and the new rules and regulations finalised by the Centre be referred to states such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and the like for their endorsement,” said the minister.

Currently, only the state-owned agencies were empowered for exploration of mines and minerals and the private sector has no role, said the minister adding that the private sector would be compensated for undertaking exploration in terms of payment and it would be granted no relaxations for award of mines and minerals as the private sector would have to chip in for this through the auction process.

Tomar further added that auctioning would be the only channel available for obtaining mines and minerals reserves in all categories, including captive mines, and even a foreign entity such as POSCO would have to be awarded mining and mineral blocks through the auction process even though it has been seeking to invest in India in its mines and minerals segment for over a decade.