https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

India to adopt open door policy for mineral exploration

India to adopt open door policy for mineral exploration

Photo by Bloomberg

30th July 2015

By: Ajoy K Das

Creamer Media Correspondent

  

Font size: - +

KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - The Indian government is working towards adopting an open door policy for mineral exploration but would not offer any fiscal incentive or relaxed ownership rights in cases of successful exploration.

A senior official in the Mines Ministry said that under the open door policy, exploration in all minerals, barring strategic minerals, would be permitted by government-owned mineral companies, private investors, as well as foreign companies, at all stages of exploration and during subsequent development of “discovered assets.”

However, rules clearly set out that no fiscal incentives would be on offer for initiating any exploration project nor would the federal government make any relaxation in terms of rights under the nonexclusive reconnaissance permit (NERP) required before start of any exploration, he added.

Under new legislation ushered in earlier this year, Indian provinces had been empowered to allocate mineral resources through the auction route as per rules laid down by the federal government.

But a NERP holder would not have any preferential right at the auctions for composite prospecting cum mining licences, which would be put up for auction by the provincial government, the official said.

The rules on the open door policy were currently under discussion with various stakeholders and representative organisations of the mining and minerals industries, and the Mines Ministry was rushing to complete the process to notify the rules at the earliest.

An early enunciation of the rules was necessary to provide the framework for the provinces to start the auction process for the allocation of mineral resources within their respective geographies as some of these mineral blocks would require further exploration based on preliminary exploration data.

According to information available from the Ministry, the Indian federal government had directed the provinces to complete the auction of 120 major mineral blocks of the 199 identified, within the current 2015/16 fiscal year.

The provinces were expected to hold block auctions in two phases starting in October with major mineral-bearing provinces Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat first off the block. The minerals would include iron-ore, bauxite, limestone and dolomite.

The Mines Ministry had already circulated preliminary exploration data available through the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to the provinces and made it available to prospective bidders.

However, many of the successful bidders would have to undertake advanced exploration and hence an open door policy would increase the pool of prospective bidders by making domestic and foreign miners that specialised in exploration eligible to participate in the auctions, the official said.

Edited by Esmarie Iannucci
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

Comments

Showroom

Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Alco-Safe
Alco-Safe

An unmanned breathalyser that is made to be tough and simple to use. Can be used in any environment for operator-free breathalyser testing.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.071 0.126s - 156pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now