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Mining and extraction have always had an interesting affair. Gulf countries have money beyond measure due to the availability of crude. Some countries have vast quantities of diamonds beneath them, some have metals while some have rare earth resources. Almost everywhere, some or the other kind of resource is found under us. India has had limited luck when it comes to availability of vast resources. The major resources found in India include Coal, natural gas, iron ore, bauxite and granite. To regulate this vast industry, the Mines & Minerals Act was enacted.
“Sabka saath sabka vikaas”, you must picturize Modiji roaring from the podium of any of his rallies. What does he mean by “sabka saath”? As a mango man, I believe what he means is, he will be running his government with my ‘saath’, he will ensure that the matters that concern me, will go through my scrutiny wherein I will have the right to raise objections and suggest changes. Just like no one understands in our country, the meaning of “justice delayed is justice denied”, the government seems to believe that people are so free that they can scrutinize proposed legislative changes in impossible timelines. Give me a CA final paper with 30 minute time, me, the Modiji’s citizen will still pass with ease!! Lack of belief in collective wisdom seems to be a hallmark of this government, the punctured tyre of indian economy, branded with demonetization, still pinches a lot of us.
Recently, the government has proposed some amendments to this act which are already facing a lot of controversy due to the haste with which they are being pushed. Amendments with huge socio-economic impacts were put for public feedback for only 10 days. Debates and discussions on such changes are impossible to conclude in such a small time. However, what if we tell you that this haste was not the only problem here. Government is essentially moving to make illegal mining legal !! Confused? Let me explain.
Presently, the definition of ‘Illegal mining’ is very broad. Government has notified some areas in the country where mining can be done. After that, through auctions or other processes, specific companies are given the permission to do mining in certain areas. These permissions are subject to quantity or depth limits. As per the present definition of illegal mining, any mining other than limited mining in permitted areas in notified zones is illegal mining. In the above venn diagram, the area represented by yellow color constitutes illegal mining.
Suppose the government “notifies” Delhi as a mining area. Post this, the government auctions 3 areas in north delhi to 3 different companies, giving them the “permit” to do mining operations. This permit has a limit of 2 miles below the ground or 1000 metric tonne of iron ore. Now, if I, owner of shining mining limited, who got the permit for one area in north delhi, does any mining in jaipur(non notified), south delhi(not permitted), remaining two areas of north delhi(not permitted), digs beyond 2 miles in my area in north delhi(beyond limit) or extracts more than 1000 metric tonne in my area in north delhi(beyond limit), it will constitute as Illegal mining.
In comes the new definition of illegal mining, now only the mining done outside the notified areas will constitute illegal mining. So, if you do mining in a notified area without permission, you are not doing illegal mining. If you are mining beyond permissible limits(depth or quantity) in permitted areas, you are not doing illegal mining. You can refer to the above venn diagram for better clarity. You might wonder what difference this will make. Let me take you through a supreme court judgement to understand the implications here.
In 2017, Supreme court of India, in the case of illegal mining in Orissa, held that it will levy 100% penalty on the illegal mining done in the state since 2001. The major violations involved mining beyond permissible limits and not obtaining environmental clearance. The total penalty came out to be in excess of 60000 crores as per the state government. This is just one case in one state of our country, you can imagine what could have happened if this case was used as a precedent for all the other illegal mining cases in India. With the amended definition of illegal mining, this judgement will not be applicable on a lot of other cases now.
Government potentially stands to lose billions of rupees with this amendment. Such a controversial amendment combined with the haste in pushing it looks very suspicious. We are not saying that the intent is mala-fide here, but the implications of these amendments are huge and hence proper scrutiny by scholars, public and state governments is essential to ensure that a mistake to the benefit of mining companies does not occur in the name of “Ease of doing business” or “Atmanirbhar bharat”.
You can read all the amendments here
