November 13, 2001

‘41’

    In a pioneering initiative, the Union Minister of Coal and Mines Shri Ram Vilas Paswan personally heard the suggestions of the investors for removing the operational bottlenecks and paving the way for further investment in the mining sector, in a full day session of the Tripartite Meeting of the Central Government, State Governments and the Investors held here on November 12, 2001. It recommended mechanism for removal of impediments to private investment in mining.

    A serious concern expressed by the investors related to the procedural and policy hurdles regarding the permitted height for aerial surveys for reconnaissance operations for minerals. Internationally there were no such restrictions as the height at which the pilot would fly depending on his better judgement from safety point of view, there were instances where a pilot even flew at a height of 10 feet above ground level for reconnaissance, while in India the permitted height was only 120 feet. Shri Paswan gave time upto 30^th November 2001 to the Director General of Civil Aviation to reconsider the matter of permissible height of flying. The time taken for according permission of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Defence to such survey would also be reduced to four weeks. Further, he instructed that the Department of Mines would act as the nodal facilitator to coordinate with the various Departments.

    Similarly, Shri Paswan assured the investors that he would take it up with the Ministry of Finance to freely allow import of aircraft with instruments to carry out airborne geo-physical survey on re-export basis.

    Shri Paswan also desired that the Department of Home Affairs should immediately review the restrictions on export of maps. He also assured the investors that he would personally take up the inter-ministerial issues on dissemination of geo-physical data with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home Affairs immediately.

    The Minister called upon the State Governments to follow a transparent, free and fair policy in granting of mineral concessions, and reminded them that the Central Government expected that the performance of the States would justify the faith and trust imposed by the Centre. The State Governments agreed to simplify the procedures for notifying the available area for grant for mineral concessions and streamlining the procedure for accepting the applications. Shri Paswan also assured the investors that as decided in the Conference of the State Ministers of Mining and Geology in August, 2001, henceforth the Rules would provide definite time frames within which the State Governments would dispose of the applications of mineral concessions and the Central Government would also convey its decision on the completed cases referred to it for prior approval in a time bound manner.

    The Minister suggested the State Governments to give due credit to the investors in the mining sector in their own right and not expect every mining lease to sustain a mineral based industry in the State concerned.

    Minerals are national wealth and it is in the national interest that mineral based industries are set up as per economic considerations at the least cost in national interest.

    The Minister also called upon the Ministry of Environment and Forests to follow a pragmatic approach in classifying forest land, and to accord permission for forest clearance in a time bound manner. He also suggested that in cases of renewal of mining leases, on par with the statutory provisions in the mining legislation, the lessee may be accorded a deemed permission under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and rules framed thereunder also to continue with mining, till the Ministry of Environment and Forests finally decides upon the application.

    The investors who took part in the Tripartite Meeting included the transnational Companies like Rio Tinto, De Beers, BHP World Exploration, Pebble Creek Resources, Anglo American Exploration, La Farge, as well as important indigenous industrial concerns in the private sector like Tata Iron and Steel Company, Associated Cement Companies Limited, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, as well as all Central Public Sector Mining Companies in the non fuel and non atomic mineral sector. The participants also included such transnational mining Companies who had not yet invested in the mining sector but were actively considering investment in India, like Pachiney, who are a serious player in the global aluminium sector. Important mineral bearing States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Prdesh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra also participated in the discussions.