Comments
Detection of illegal mining is on the rise as State Governments intensify the drive against the menace with Maharashtra topping the list in 2010.
The number of detected illegal mining cases in some 19 States has almost doubled to 82,330 in 2010 as against 41,578 in 2009. Maharashtra tops the list with the maximum detection of illegal mining cases in 2010, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Maharashtra has seen more than four-fold growth in cases detected, while States such as Gujarat and Orissa have seen a decline. These States have realised some Rs 606 crore through fines and penalties.
The Mines Minister, Mr Dinsha Patel, told the Rajya Sabha on Monday that there was no direct revenue loss to the Union Government due to illegal mining as State Governments were the owners of minerals and entire royalty revenue accrued to them.
Mr Patel said Government has appointed the Justice M.B. Shah Commission of Inquiry in November last year to inquire into the large-scale mining of iron ore and manganese. The Commission is yet to submit its final report.
The Minister also said the Government was in the process of getting approval from the Cabinet for the new mining legislation that envisages mandatory benefit sharing with project affected people.
Draft Act
The draft Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act 2011 proposes to make it mandatory for coal companies to share 26 per cent of their net profits and other mineral firms to contribute an amount equal to the royalty for the welfare of the project affected people.
“The Bill is proposed to be introduced in Parliament after obtaining the Cabinet approval. The details of provisions as they stand in the draft MMDR Bill at present are by their nature secret since the draft MMDR Bill is in the process of obtaining Cabinet approval,” Mr Patel said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.