New Delhi (Agency): The Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s Parliament, approved a bill on Friday allowing private sector participation in mining six atomic minerals, including lithium, and deep-seated minerals like gold and silver. This move, made amidst continuous protests by opposition members over an unrelated issue, signifies a crucial shift in India’s mining sector.
The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023 was passed through a voice vote. This bill aims to permit the private sector to mine six out of the 12 atomic minerals currently existing. As per the previous act, all 12 atomic minerals were exclusively reserved for state-owned entities for mining and exploration.
The atomic minerals now available for private sector exploration include lithium, which is crucial for manufacturing batteries in electric vehicles and other energy storage devices. The other minerals are beryllium, niobium, titanium, tantalum, and zirconium.
“These minerals have various applications in the space industry, electronics, communications, energy sector, electric batteries and are critical in net-zero emission commitment of India,” the statement of objects and reasons of the bill said. The exploration and mining of these minerals by private entities are expected to significantly increase within the country.
The bill also provides the central government the power to exclusively auction mining leases and composite licenses for certain crucial minerals.
Deep-seated minerals, such as gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, cobalt, platinum group of minerals, diamonds, and others, are more challenging and expensive to explore and mine compared to surface or bulk minerals. The statement said, “The proposed exploration license would facilitate, encourage, and incentivise private sector participation in all spheres of mineral exploration for critical and deep-seated minerals.”
Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for Coal and Mines, highlighted that the amendments in the bill would be a ‘game changer’. He said, “Now we have brought in an exploration license through a transparent auction route.”
Joshi also stated that India is set to produce one billion tonnes of coal this year, which would make the country self-reliant in the energy sector. He added, “Earlier, we were talking only about coal imports, now we are thinking that by 2025-26 we will stop the import of thermal coal.”
The Minister informed the House that the mining of beach sand minerals would remain reserved for public sector undertakings. These include minerals like ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, garnet, monazite, zircon, and sillimanite.
Following the discussions and amidst the ongoing uproar, the bill was eventually passed by a voice vote.