Granting of mineral
concessions for minerals (including sand) in the coastal sea
beds is in the domain of the Central Government under the Offshore
Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002. Under
the provisions of this Act, the Central Government is required
to notify the areas for which mineral concessions shall be granted
and any application filed before such notification is premature.
The State Governments are denuded of any powers to grant concessions
for mining of minerals (including sand) in the coastal seabeds.
So far no proposal has been received for deep-sea sand mining
from anybody.
A Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between Kerala State
Industrial Development Corporation (A State Government Undertaking)
and Crown Maritime Company (I) Limited for getting an Environmental
Impact Study for sea sand mining activity by agencies like Geological
Survey of India and National Institute of Oceanography.
The Government
has recently notified "The Offshore Areas Mineral (Development
and Regulation) Act, 2002" on 31.1.2003. This is an Act to provide
for development and regulation of mineral resources in the territorial
waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone and other
maritime zones of India and to provide for matters connected
or incidental thereto.
This information
was given by the Minister for Mines, Shri Ramesh Bais in a written
reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
