“Reforms to help raising India’s mineral production” Anil Agrawal on amendments in MMDR Act

Bhubaneswar : Anil Agarwal, Chairman of London based mining and commodities Conglomerate Vedanta Resources has supported the recent amendments in India’s Mining Law.

“Never seen such progressive reforms before. If govt permits contiguous mining, massive exploration and increasing production in existing mines by 50% via self-certification, which is the world norm, a significant rise in production can be achieved quickly” he twitted.

“Govt trusting more entrepreneurs, start-ups, junior minors and the private sector will have a massive impact on our country and Rojgar” he said.

Never seen such progressive reforms before. If govt permits contiguous mining, massive exploration and increasing production in existing mines by 50% via self-certification, which is the world norm, a significant rise in production can be achieved quickly. #AatmaNirbharBharat

— Anil Agarwal (@AnilAgarwal_Ved) March 22, 2021

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021, which was passed in the Lok Sabha last week, proposes several reforms in the mining sector in order to attract more investments.

The Government will now table the bill in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament, before sending it for the President’s nod.

The amendment proposes to allow captive miners to sell up to 50 per cent of their mineral production after meeting captive consumption and on paying additional royalty to the state government.

Another key amendment the bill proposes is to empower the central government to conduct mining block auction if a state government fails to complete the auction within the stipulated time. This amendment is expected to face opposition from state governments, especially the non-BJP ruled states. However, analysts believe, the industry may welcome this amendment as it’ll bring transparency to the auction process.