The Union government is aiming to open up around 500 mineral blocks for auctions, stoking fears of usurping concessions like Reconnaissance Permits (RPs) and Prospecting Licenses (PLs) of existing leaseholders.
These cases were saved under Section 10A 2(b) and 2(c) of the Mines and Minerals- Regulation & Development (MMDR) Act.
To ensure seamlessness in the mining sector, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently announced the introduction of Composite Exploration-Cum-Mining-Cum-Production License (CEMPL) and award of 500 mineral blocks via the open and transparent system of auctions.
Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi) has commended the government for the futuristic steps. However, the mineral lobby body has flagged fears of possible deletions of Section 10A 2(b) and 2(c) wherein existing holders of RP and PL have already been guaranteed seamless transition to the mining stage.
