New Mineral Policy in two months: Mines Ministry
New Delhi, Aug 17 : The government is giving final touches to the draft National Mineral Policy and is likely to announce it within two months, a Mines Ministry official said on Friday.
"The new policy aims to give a big boost to exploration activities. In three to five years, the exploration of minerals should gather momentum and double every year," Mines Joint Secretary Bipul Pathak said.
Pathak was speaking at a National Summit on Mineral Exploration and Sustainability, organised by industry body Ficci and International Institute of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (IICSR).
Responding to industry's concern over high taxes, the new policy will take cognisance of the recommendations on royalties and other levies to put a liberal regime in place, he said.
Pathak urged the private sector to step up investment in mineral exploration and assured industry that the government will extend financial and other support to junior exploration companies developed by the private sector.
Explaining the reasons for the lack of private investment in the sector, Vedanta Director Kishore Kumar called for making exploration blocks sustainable through offer of larger blocks and mining rights to companies doing reconnaissance work.
Making available technology and equipment developed indigenously to explorers and benchmarking of taxation with international norms were the other requests made by Kumar.
Essel Mining and Industries MD and Ficci Mining Committee Chair Tuhin Mukherjee stressed the need to develop a sustainability framework at the planning stage itself and called for introspection on the need to open mines wherever minerals were available.
Advocating for sustainable mining, IICSR Founder Harsha Mukherjee said the day is not far when the country's progress will be measured in terms of sustainable domestic production rather than its Gross Domestic Product.
Geological Survey of India Director General Dinesh Gupta spoke of the opportunities and challenges in expediting mineral exploration in the country.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
