The Coal Minister, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, has said that the draft mining legislation is expected to be up for Cabinet approval within a month.
According to the proposal, coal miners, both captive and commercial, should set aside 26 per cent of profit generated from the project area or 10 per cent royalty on coal production from the project, whichever is higher, for distribution among the those who lose their land.
“The draft Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2010 is in the final stages of preparation by the Group of Ministers. We are expecting it to be placed for the Cabinet approval within a month,” Mr Jaiswal said.
He was talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the city-based Merchants' Chamber of Commerce, here on Monday.
According to him, existing projects would be outside the purview of the proposed legislation. However, any expansion of existing mines would be governed by the new act.
When asked about a recent recommendation from the Tata group to link such social disbursements with the cost of operation to make it more consistent and sustainable, the Minister said that the Government was aware of such consequences. “We are aware of the flip side of linking such payments with profit and therefore included the royalty clause which cannot be avoided under any circumstances,” he said.
A Tata Steel release recently said: “The social cost must be a part of the cost of operations and not derived as a share of the profit. Profit can be impacted by several factors. Whereas when it is treated as a part of the operating cots, it will be consistent, transparent and sustainable through the life of the mine.”
Responding to a query, Mr Jaiswal said that while the stress on rehabilitation of the displaced people might increase coal prices, in the future such moves would ensure long-term growth of the country. “The dissent against land acquisition and displacement of people that began 30 years ago, has now assumed enormous proportions and has even fuelled Maoist activities. It is time we take a good care of people to ensure future expansion of coal mining activity so as to fuel the economic growth,” he added.
The Minister said that the Government has finalised a new policy for identifying and distributing small and isolated patches of captive coal reserves to small industrial consumers, through the competitive bidding process. “The draft policy is ready and will be announced in a month,” he said.
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