Indian mining sector seeks sops to explore mineral wealth
Bengaluru, Sep 12 : The Indian mining sector on Wednesday urged the government to incentivise exploration of the country's rich mineral wealth that remains untapped despite huge potential for its growth and development.
"As the country's vast and rich mineral wealth remains untapped despite huge potential for growth, the government should offer incentives to attract international firms to come and explore the mineral deposits," said Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) Secretary-General R.K. Sharma here.
Geologically being a part of Gondwana land, India has the same prospects as other resource-rich countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Indonesia and South Africa.
Gondwana was an ancient super-continent that broke up about 180 million years ago and split into land masses, including Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, the Indian sub-continent and the Arabian Peninsula.
"India remains largely under-explored for minerals like gold, diamond, copper, nickel, lead and zinc. Australia and Canada have 13-14 per cent of global exploration budget, while India's share is negligible. Exploration is pre-requisite for developing the mineral resource base," said Sharma.
Ahead of the 8th three-day Mining, Exploration Convention and Trade Show "Mining Mazma 2018" in the city from Thursday, the Federation has urged the government to amend the Mines and Minerals Development & Regulation (MMDR) Act, 1957 in line with the new National Mineral Exploration Policy, 2016.
Under the changed legal framework, non-exclusive reconnaissance permits (RP) are issued to prospective explorers without provision for sale or transfer of their permits or transition of their rights to prospective licensing-cum-mining licensing (PL-cum-ML).
"The MMDR Act needs to be amended to enable reconnaissance permit holders to have the right of transition to PL-cum-ML or sell their rights to prospective investors," reiterated Sharma.
Besides a favourable legal framework, the mining apex body asked the government on May 9 to relax the guidelines of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which restrict prospecting of minerals with 5-10 per cent NPV (Net Present Value).
"As the guidelines are bound to impact exploration, we urge the government to withdraw them for effective exploration of minerals in the forest areas," added Sharma.
Of the 89 mineral blocks notified across the country, 45 were auctioned and 146 attempts for made for their exploration. Of the 45 blocks, though six have been ready for composite license (PL-cum-ML), not one of them were granted this over the last two years.
"Similarly, no mining lease has been granted for greenfield blocks auctioned for exploration, prospecting and mining them due to delays in clearances and consents by the Central and state governments," Sharma lamented.
The apex body, however, welcomed the deregulation of the coal sector that allows commercial mining of coal by private firms and gives an impetus to the sector's growth.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
