Mines & Mineral Administration
Regulation
There are a number of Acts of Parliament and Rules of the Central Government applicable to mines and minerals. The major Acts of Parliament applicable to mines and minerals are as follows :-
- The Mines Act, 1952 - The main object of the Mines Act, 1952 is to regulate the working conditions in the mines and to provide certain amenities to the workers employed therein.
- The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957 - The object for which this Act was enacted was that the regulation of mines and the development of minerals is kept under the control of the Union Government in public interest. The intention was that the mineral wealth of the country should be conserved and should be worked properly without waste and by persons qualified in that kind of work. Reconnaissance permits, prospecting licenses and mining leases are granted under the provisions of this Act and Rules framed thereunder.
- The Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1973 - The main objective of the Act was acquisition and transfer of the right, title and interest of the owners in respect of coal mines specified in the schedule to the Act, with a view to re-organising and re-constructing such coal mines so as to ensure rational co-ordinated and scientific development and utilization of Coal resources consistent with the growing requirement of the country, in order that the ownership and control of such resources are vested in the State and thereby so distributed as best to sub – serve the common good.
Mineral concession, namely reconnaissance permit, prospecting licence or mining lease is being granted by the State Government in accordance with the provisions of the Mines & Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.
Application for reconnaissance permit, prospecting licence or mining lease for major minerals shall be submitted in relevant forms as prescribed in the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 to the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district. On receipt of the application and enquiry report from the Deputy Commissioner, the Directorate of Mineral Resources will scrutinize and examine the technical aspects of each case and then forward it along with comments, if any, to the Department of Mining and Geology. The Department of Mining and Geology issues the final grant order followed by deed execution with the Deputy Commissioner, after the concerned individual/firm/company has fulfilled the requisite condition.
The Department is also involved in the collection of revenue in the form of royalty and cess on minerals.