Ministry of Mines (India)

The Ministry of Mines is responsible for survey and exploration of all minerals (other than natural gas and petroleum) for mining and metallurgy of non-ferrous metals like aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, gold, nickel etc. and for administration of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) in respect of all mines and minerals other than coal and lignite. There are one attached office, one subordinate office, three public sector undertakings (PSUs), three autonomous bodies and some more agencies working under the aegis of the Ministry of Mines.

The first National Mineral Policy was enunciated by the Government in 1993 for liberalization of the mining sector. The National Mineral Policy, 1993 aimed at encouraging the flow of private investment and introduction of state-of-the-art technology in exploration and mining.

In the Mid-Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five-Year Plan, it was observed that the main factors responsible for this were procedural delays in the processing of applications for mineral concessions and the absence of adequate infrastructure in the mining areas. To go into the whole gamut of issues relating to the development of the mineral sector and suggest measures for improving the investment climate the Mid-Term Appraisal had proposed the establishment of a High Level Committee. Accordingly, the Government of India, Planning Commission, constituted a Committee on 14 September 2005. under the Chairmanship of Shri Anwarul Hoda, member, Planning Commission. The Committee made detailed recommendations on all of its terms of Reference in December 2006. Based on the recommendations of the High Level Committee, in consultation with State Governments, the Government replaced the National Mineral Policy, 1993 with a new National Mineral Policy on 13 March 2008.

The National Mineral Policy 2008 provides for a change in the role of the Central Government and the State Governments to incentivize private sector investment in exploration and mining and for ensuring level playing field and transparency in the grant of concessions and promotion of scientific mining within a sustainable development framework so as to protect the interest of local population in mining areas. This has necessitated harmonization of legislation with the new National Mineral Policy.

The Hoda Committee studied the various reports prepared and submitted by study groups and in- house committees set up by various Ministries from time to time on the issues before the Committee. The Committee gave consideration to the mineral policies of the States as presented by the State Governments, especially to the differing perceptions of mineral-rich and non mineral-rich states. The Committee also gave consideration to the papers prepared by FIMI, which provided comparative analyses of the mineral policies and statutes of other major mineral producing countries in the world such as Australia, Canada, Chile, and South Africa.

The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 was enacted so as to provide for the regulation of mines and development of minerals under the control of the Union. The Act has been amended in 1972, 1986, 1994, 1999 and 2004 in keeping with changes in the policy on mineral development. It has been recently amended in 2016 to make fundamental changes.

Since that the existing law had already been amended several times and as further amendments may not clearly reflect the objects and reasons emanating from the new Mineral Policy, Government decided to reformulate the legislative framework in the light of the National Mineral Policy, 2008 and consequently, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill was drafted in 2009-10 by the then Secretary Mines, S. Vijay Kumar,[7][8] in consultation with the stakeholders. Government then constituted a Group of Ministers, chaired by the Minister of Finance (comprising Ministers of Home, Environment & Forest, Mines, Steel, Coal, Tribal Affairs, Law etc.) which harmonized the views of the Ministries and the final draft as approved by the Cabinet in September 2011, was introduced in Parliament in November 2011.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011, inter alia, provides for the following, namely

• A simple and transparent mechanism with clear and enforceable timelines for grant of mining lease or prospecting licence through competitive bidding in areas of known mineralization, and on the basis of first-in-time in areas where mineralization is not known.
• "Extension" rather than "renewal" of concession to ensure complete exploitation of mineral deposit.
• Facilitating easy transfer of reconnaissance and prospecting licences; mining leases are also transferable but subject to prior approval of State Government.

A notable feature of the Bill is to provide a simple mechanism which ensures that revenues from mining are shared with local communities at individual as well as community level so as to empower them, provide them with choices, enable them to create and maintain local infrastructure and better utilize infrastructure and other services provided for their benefit. The Bill after introduction in Parliament in November 2011, was referred to the Department–related Parliamentary Standing Committee ("Standing Committee" ) which after eliciting the views of all stakeholders, submitted its Report.

Elections in 2014, however led to the Bill lapsing, and the new NDA Government used its majority to effect amendments in the MMDR Act. The most important amendment has been to make auctions the only way to get mineral concessions at prospecting and mining stages. Some auctions have been held, but the industry view seems to be that auctions are likely to lead to delays and supply interruptions, and that the auction is adding to the burden of taxes on mining. Auctions at mining lease stage are also disincentivising exploration by private sector.[9]

The Hoda Committee made important recommendations on the need for a Sustainable Development Framework (SDF), as follows:

""The Ministry of Mines and MOEF should jointly set up a working group to prepare a SDF specially tailored to the context of India’s mining environment, taking fully into account the work done and being done in ICMM and the IUCN. The Indian SDF comprising of principles, reporting initiatives, and good practice guidelines unique to the three sectors in Indian mining, i.e. SME, captive, and large stand alone, can then be made applicable to mining operations in India and a separate structure set up to ensure adherence to such framework, drawing from both IBM and the field formations of MOEF. • The aspect of social infrastructure in the form of schools, hospitals, drinking water arrangements, etc. needs to be addressed within a formalised framework on the lines of the ICMM model. The Samatha ruling requiring mining companies to spend a set percentage of their profits on model programmes for meeting local needs through a pre-determined commitment, is one option for the country as a whole. Another option could be to require the mining companies to spend a percentage, say three per cent, of their turnover on the social infrastructure in the villages around the mining area. The working group mentioned in paragraph 3.11 may take this into consideration when preparing the Indian SDF and determine the percentage that mining companies could be advised to set aside. "

Based on these recommendations, the National Mineral Policy 2008 explicitly underlined the need for mining within a sustainable development framework. The National Mineral Policy 2008 states, ( para numbers in brackets are the para numbers in the Policy): " (2.3) A framework of sustainable development will be designed which takes care of biodiversity issues and to ensure that mining activity takes place along with suitable measures for restoration of the ecological balance..."

In para 7.10 it states" Extraction of minerals closely impacts other natural resources like land, water, air and forest. The areas in which minerals occur often have other resources presenting a choice of utilisation of the resources. Some such areas are ecologically fragile and some are biologically rich. It is necessary to take a comprehensive view to facilitate the choice or order of land use keeping in view the needs of development as well as the needs of protecting the forests, environment and ecology... All mining shall be undertaken within the parameters of a comprehensive Sustainable Development Framework... Mining operations shall not ordinarily be taken up in identified ecologically fragile areas and biologically rich areas.

Para 7.11 states that "Appropriate compensation will form an important aspect of the Sustainable Development Framework mentioned in para 2.3 and 7.10…"

Para 7.12 states that: "Once the process of economical extraction of a mine is complete there is need for scientific mine closure which will not only restore ecology and regenerate biomass but also take into account the socio-economic aspects of such closure..."

And not least, para 3.2 of the Policy states that "The Central Govt in consultation with the State Govts shall formulate the legal measures for giving effect to the NMP 2008..The MMDR Act, MCR and MCDR will be amended in line with the policy…"

In line with the Hoda Committee recommendations, the Ministry of Mines commissioned ERM which prepared a Sustainable Development Framework Report in November 2011.

• N. V. Gadgil (15 August 1947 - 26 December 1950) (Works, Mines, and Power)
• K. D. Malviya (25 April 1957 - 26 June 1963) (Mines and Fuel)
• Swaran Singh (17 April 1957 – 10 April 1962) (Steel, Mines, and Fuel)
• Swaran Singh (26 June 1963 – 19 July 1963) (Mines and Fuel)
• C Subramaniam (21 November 1963 – 09 June 1964) (Steel, Mines, and Heavy Industry)
• N. Sanjeeva Reddy (09 June 1964 – 24 January 1966) (Steel and Mines)
• T. N. Singh (17 January 1967 - 13 March 1969) (Mines and Metals)
• M. Chenna Reddy (16 March 1967 – 27 April 1968) (Steel, Mines, and Metals)
• Prakash Sethi (27 April 1968 – 14 February 1969) (Iron and Steel, Mines, and Metals) (MoS)
• Triguna Sen (14 February 1969 - 18 March 1971) (Mines and Metals)
• S. Mohan Kumaramangalam (02 May 1971 – 31 May 1973) (Steel and Mines)
• Indira Gandhi (06 June 1973 - 23 July 1973) (Steel and Mines)
• T. A. Pai (23 July 1973 – 11 January 1974) (Steel and Mines)
• K. D. Malviya (11 January 1974 – 10 October 1974) (Steel and Mines)
• Chandrajit Yadav (10 October 1974 – 24 March 1977) (MoS)
• Biju Patnaik (26 March 1977 – 15 July 1979) (Steel and Mines)
• Biju Patnaik (30 July 1979 – 14 January 1980) (Steel, Mines, and Coal)
• Pranab Mukherjee (16 January 1980 – 15 January 1982) (Steel and Mines)
• N. D. Tiwari (15 January 1982 – 14 February 1983) (Steel and Mines)
• N. K. P. Salve (14 February 1983 – 31 December 1984) (MoS, Independent Charge) (Steel and Mines)
• Vasant Sathe (31 December 1984 – 25 September 1985) (Steel, Mines, and Coal)
• K. C. Pant (25 September 1985 – 12 April 1987) (Steel and Mines)
• Vasant Sathe (12 April 1987 – 25 July 1987) (Steel and Mines)
• M. L. Fotedar (25 July 1987 – 02 December 1989) (Steel and Mines)
• Dinesh Goswami (06 December 1989 – 10 November 1990) (Steel and Mines)
• Ashoke Kumar Sen (21 November 1989 – 21 June 1991) (Steel and Mines)
• Balram Singh Yadav (21 June 1991 - 15 September 1995) (MoS, Independent Charge) (Mines)
• G. Giridhar Gamang (15 September 1995 - 16 May 1996) (MoS, Independent Charge) (Mines)
• Birendra Prasad Baishya (29 June 1996 - 19 March 1998) (Steel and Mines)
• Naveen Patnaik (19 March 1998 - 13 October 1999) (Steel and Mines)
• Naveen Patnaik (13 October 1999 - 04 March 2000) (Mines and Minerals)
• P. R. Kumaramangalam (06 March 2000 - 27 May 2000) (Mines and Minerals)
• Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (27 May 2000 - 07 November 2000) (Mines)
• Sunder Lal Patwa (07 November 2000 - 01 September 2001) (Mines)
• Ram Vilas Paswan (01 September 2001 - 29 April 2002) (Coal and Mines)
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee (29 March 2002 - 01 July 2002) (Coal and Mines)
• L. K. Advani (01 July 2002 - 26 September 2002) (Coal and Mines)
• Uma Bharati (26 September 2002 - 29 January 2003) (Coal and Mines)
• Ramesh Bias (29 January 2003 - 09 January 2004) (MoS, Independent Charge) (Mines)
• Mamata Banerjee (09 January 2004 - 22 May 2004) (Coal and Mines)
• Shibu Soren (22 May 2004 - 24 July 2004) (Coal and Mines)
• Manmohan Singh (27 July 2004 - 27 November 2004) (Coal and Mines)
• Sis Ram Ola (27 November 2004 - 22 May 2009) (Mines)
• B. K. Hamdique (28 May 2009 - 19 January 2011) (Mines)
• Dinsha Patel (19 January 2011 - 26 May 2014) (MoS, Independent Charge till 28 October 2012)
• Narendra Singh Tomar (26 May 2014 - 05 July 2016)
• Piyush Goyal (06 July 2016 - 03 September (2017) (MoS, Independent Charge)
• Narendra Singh Tomar (03 September 2017 - 31 May 2019)
• Pralhad Joshi (31 May 2019 -)

This is the list of Secretaries–Government of India. [10]

• Ministry website