India Inc has said that the passage of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill 2015 in the Rajya Sabha on Friday will give a boost to “languishing’’ mining activities in the country and give a fillip to manufacturing.
Despite strong resistance from the Opposition, the Bill was passed in the Upper House on the last day of the first leg of the current Parliament session and will now be sent to the Lok Sabha. The Parliament session will resume on April 20.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said the Bill “will bring in much-needed transparency in the allocation process and kick-start the mining sector which was languishing for want of clear guidelines.”
“The Bill will pave the way for restarting mining in the country, thereby easing the pressure on availability of raw material, so vital for many key sectors that provide inputs to manufacturing,” CII said.
Industry body Assocham also echoed the sentiments and said the Bill would augment mines’ productivity.
Rana Kapoor, President of Assocham, said, “Now there is a likelihood of increase in production of iron ore that will help the domestic steel industry as augmenting steel production capacity is crucial for growth and development of the manufacturing sector.”
Alok B Shriram, President, PHD Chamber, said the Bill will bring down the cost of doing business by facilitating auctions of mines supplying minerals such as iron ore and bauxite, and bringing down the costs of raw materials.
“Going ahead, we expect the Lok Sabha to pass the Bill for speedy allocation of the mines that would bolster industrial growth,” Shriram added.