The Hindu Business Line : Mineral-rich States want say in new policy, to meet Prime Minister today

New Delhi, Dec. 18 The Chief Ministers of the four mineral-rich States — Orissa, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — would be meeting the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, asking him to protect the interest of the States before finalising the National Mineral Policy (NMP).

The Chief Ministers of the four States are expected to take up the issue of sharing of the new mining code when they meet Dr Singh after the National Development Council meeting here on Wednesday.

“The Chief Ministers have sent separate letters to the Prime Minister asking him to seek their views before the NMP is sent for Cabinet approval. They sought to know if their concerns on the policy have been incorporated,” an official from the Orissa Government told Business Line.

Even an assurance from the Minister of State for Mines, Mr T. Subbarami Reddy, did not seem to have satisfied the State Governments. “I spoke to the State Governments. They now seem to be convinced about the policy,” the Minister had said after a meeting with respective State Governments in October.As per the Cabinet note prepared by the Mines Ministry, the new policy suggests setting up committees to expedite the process of clearing mining leases in case there is a delay in getting approvals from the respective State Governments.

The State Governments, on the other hand, want special provisions for public sector companies and seek to retain rights to give the mining leases to the companies that will do the value-addition or set up industries in that State itself.

Another official said that draft policies are usually circulated for comments and suggestions, especially if it concerns the interest of the States.

“This time we are surprised that the States have been kept in the dark. We are also amazed that the Mines Ministry is so secretive about the whole policy and also the recommendations of the Group of Ministers have not been shared with the State Governments,” he added.

The NMP seeks to remove the bottlenecks impeding investments in the sector, where the Government expects investments close to Rs 1,00,000 crore in the next 10 years.

The Mines Ministry was hoping to table the policy in the last session of Parliament but it had not got the nod from the Cabinet so far, even though it was on the agenda on more than two occasions.

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