Ministers will meet in three weeks to consider revamping a five-decade old mining law that tries to balance the needs of investors with those of locals affected by the industry.

The draft Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2010, which proposes to replace the existing law that has existed since 1957, has some welcome and much-needed features to check the scourge of illegal mining, ensure that the industry is less destructive of the environment, and includes all stakeholders in the profits produced.

Rajat Guha

Some Running For More Than 20 Years
Nitin Sethi | TNN

New Delhi: Is it possible to operate hundreds of illegal mines in India for years on end without being detected or prosecuted? And can their illegal operations be legitimized in one stroke and turned into

Move to evolve uniform regulatory framework.

The group was in favour of making mine plans mandatory for the minor minerals as well and recommended that a separate corpus should be created for reclamation and rehabilitation of mined out areas.

Vishwanath Kulkarni

New Delhi, June 7

Concerned over the environment impact of rampant mining of minor minerals such as sand and fuller earth, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has asked the states to amend rules for such activities in line with the guidelines framed by his ministry.

Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday shot out a directive to the State governments to adopt a nation-wide uniform mechanism for regulating mining of minor minerals, that includes minimum mining lease of five years and minimum size of mine not less than five hectares.