Page 14 - Mines and Minerals Reporter eMagazine - Volume October 2021

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

minerals such as copper, diamond,
gold, and graphite. However, ac-
cording to the Federation of In-
dian Mineral Industries (FIMI),
no greenfield mining project has
come into operation from the
auction process (Iyengar, 2021).
The Central government has at-
tempted to facilitate a seamless
transition between the leasehold-
ers through an amendment of the
wildlife protection pay- MMDR (this was done with the Mineral Laws (Amendment)
Given India’s untapped geological ments, and stamp duties. Act, 2020, which amended provisions of both MMDR, and the
potential and the imminent demand All these costs may make Coal Mines Act), such that the new miner would be able to
for critical minerals for green tech- the business model unsus- start operations without acquiring new environmental clear-
nology manufacturing, there is an tainable, leading to damp- ances for two years. Given India’s untapped geological poten-
urgent need to enable the explora- ened production, corners tial and the imminent demand for critical minerals for green
tion and auctioning of greenfield being cut (e.g., health and technology manufacturing, there is an urgent need to enable
deep-seated mineral assets and safety, environment, and the exploration and auctioning of greenfield deep-seated min-
ensure their early operations. community welfare) or a eral assets and ensure their early operations.
forfeit of the lease.
Mines and Minerals
(Development and
Regulation) Amendment
Act, 2021

The Mines and Minerals (De-
velopment and Regulation) Act,
1957, was amended in March
2021 through the MMDR Amend-
ment Act, 2021 (March 28). Sever-
al changes were made to improve
mining and create a level playing
field between captive and mer-
chant miners. With this amend-
ment, captive miners may now

Where Are The
Greenfield Mines?

Many of the auctions were of brownfield merchant mines
where the leases had lapsed in March 2020 (Figure 11). Sec-
tion 8A of the MMDR Act, 2015 states that non-fuel mining
leases would be valid for 50 years. Additionally, the leases of
older merchant mines in operation for longer than this peri-
od would be allowed to continue mining operations till March
31, 2020, while the leases of similar captive mines would be
extended till March 31, 2030. A total of 334 mines were im-
pacted by this section of the act in total, of which 48 were
working mines, primarily producing iron ore which accounted
for 25–35 percent of the country’s total output (Patel, 2019). sell up to 50 percent of the minerals produced after meeting
Of the 97 auctions until March 2020, 45 were of brownfield the requirement of their end฀use plants and upon payment
blocks, i.e., mines previously in operation. There were 52 auc- of additional amounts, compared to 25 percent before. This
tions of greenfield mines, including those with deep-seated should help reduce the wastage of minerals and increase their

12 MINES & MINERALS REPORTER / OCTOBER 2021