RAJYA SABHA
The Government
has liberalised its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in
the mining sector which allows foreign equity holding upto 100%,
on the automatic route for all minerals except diamonds and
precious stones. This covers exploration, mining, mineral processing
and metallurgy. In case of diamonds and precious stones, foreign
equity upto 74% is allowed on the automatic route for both exploration
and mining operations. However, proposals seeking higher than
74 per cent foreign equity for diamonds and precious stones
are considered by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
The Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act,
1957 has also been suitably amended to make it more investor
friendly.
The FIPB, in
consultation with the Ministry of Mines, has so far approved
72 proposals of FDI in the mining sector. The Indian subsidiary
companies of global mining companies have taken permits for
reconnaisance operations involving state-of-the-art technology
for aerial, geophysical and geochemical surveys for exploring
minerals.
This information
was given by the Minister for Mines, Shri Ramesh Bais in a written
reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
