{"id":36749,"date":"2023-08-07T03:33:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T22:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=36749"},"modified":"2025-04-22T01:15:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T19:45:55","slug":"mines-and-minerals-development-and-regulation-amendment-bill-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/mines-and-minerals-development-and-regulation-amendment-bill-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Global Scenario of Critical and Deep-seated Minerals<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Attempts to Secure Supply-Chain Resilience by various Countries<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Case of India<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Reasons why India is Unable to Explore its Minerals<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Existing Mining Policy<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How does the Mines and Minerals Bill 2023 Help?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Some Issues with the Bill\u2019s Proposals<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently, the Indian Parliament passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2023, in a bid to attract private sector investment in the exploration of critical and deep-seated minerals in the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Global Scenario of Critical and Deep-seated Minerals:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A variety of minerals<\/strong> are crucial to a country\u2019s manufacturing, infrastructure, and advancement.<\/li>\n<li><strong>However, the clean energy transitions<\/strong> of countries including India, seeking to meet their net-zero emission goals, are <strong>contingent on the availability of critical minerals<\/strong> such as &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>Lithium (or white gold), cobalt, graphite, and<\/li>\n<li>Rare earth elements (REEs are crucial in making wind turbines, solar panels, etc).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>These are also crucial for the manufacture of semiconductors<\/strong> used in smart electronics; defence and aerospace equipment; telecommunication technologies; etc.<\/li>\n<li><strong>According to the World Bank, the demand for critical metals<\/strong> such as lithium (Li) and cobalt is expected to rise by nearly 500% by 2050.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The lack of availability of such minerals<\/strong> or the concentration of their extraction or processing in a few geographical locations leads to <strong>import dependency, supply chain vulnerabilities, etc<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Russian invasion of Ukraine<\/strong> has made it more clear how global supply chains of a range of commodities are vulnerable to shocks leading to a lack of availability and skyrocketing prices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Attempts to Secure Supply-Chain Resilience by various Countries:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Major economies <\/strong>including the US, UK, and EU have moved to secure supply-chain resilience for such minerals and to reduce reliance for their availability on countries like China.\n<ul>\n<li>This has been done by way of the <strong>Mineral Security Partnership (MSP)<\/strong>, which <strong>India <\/strong>became party to this year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>China <\/strong>has majority ownership of cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 70% of the world\u2019s cobalt is mined.<\/li>\n<li><strong>China <\/strong>also has by far the largest reserves of REEs (and produces 65% of the world\u2019s REEs), followed by Vietnam, Brazil and Russia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Countries like the US, Australia, Japan, and the EU bloc have also <strong>created lists of critical minerals <\/strong>based on their specific economic needs and the supply risk of the minerals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Indian Ministry of Mines<\/strong> recently came out with <strong>a list of 30 minerals critical to the country\u2019s economic development and national security.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Case of India:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>India\u2019s unique geological and tectonic setting<\/strong> is conducive to hosting potential mineral resources.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Its geological history <\/strong>is similar to the mining-rich regions of Western Australia and Eastern Africa.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Still, India is highly dependent on imports<\/strong> for a majority of <strong>30 minerals <\/strong>of the above-mentioned list.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>For instance,<\/strong> India is 100% import-dependent on countries including China, Russia, Australia, South Africa, and the US for the supply of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, niobium, beryllium, and tantalum.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the case of lithium<\/strong>, India\u2019s imports were worth $22.15 million in 2021-2022. India imported 5,486.18 lakh units of lithium-ion batteries, spending $1,791.35 million.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>For deep-seated minerals <\/strong>like gold, silver, lead, cobalt, platinum group elements (PGEs), diamonds, etc., India depends largely on imports.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>These minerals are difficult and expensive to explore<\/strong> and mine as compared to surficial or bulk minerals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In 2022-23,<\/strong> India imported close to 12 lakh tonnes of copper (and its concentrates) worth over Rs. 27,000 crores.<\/li>\n<li>It imported 32,298.21 tonnes of Nickel worth Rs. 6,549.34 crore.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>India<\/strong> has 6% of the world\u2019s REEs reserves and produces only 1% of global output.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Reasons why India is Unable to Explore its Minerals:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The primary step to discovering mineral resources <\/strong>and eventually finding economically viable reserves is mineral exploration, which comes in various stages before mining. These stages are &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Reconnaissance <\/strong>(preliminary survey to determine mineral resources),<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prospecting <\/strong>(exploring, locating, or proving mineral deposits), and<\/li>\n<li><strong>Detailed exploration<\/strong> (estimating of mineral ore and grade).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>It is estimated that India has explored just 10% <\/strong>of its Obvious Geological Potential (OGP), less than 2% of which is mined and the country spends less than 1% of the global mineral exploration <strong>budget<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A majority of exploration projects have been carried out by the government agencies &#8211; <\/strong>Geological Survey of India and PSUs like Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) &#8211; <strong>with very little private sector participation<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>This is mainly due to lack of policy support and inadequate incentives for the private sector.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Exploration requires highly specialised, time-intensive and monetarily risky operations<\/strong> (aerial surveys, geological mapping and geochemical analyses) with less than 1% of explored projects becoming commercially viable mines.\n<ul>\n<li>Indian PSUs had not fared well when it came to <strong>deep-seated and critical minerals<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>India\u2019s Existing Mining Policy:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957<\/strong>, the primary legislation governing mining in the country has been amended several times.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Under this, private companies <\/strong>could also get Prospecting Licences (PL) or Mining Leases (ML), and could even apply for early-stage or greenfield exploration through Reconnaissance Permits (RPs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the early 2010s<\/strong>, as the mining industry seemed to be gathering momentum, concerns about favouritism and misuse started coming up in the allocation of 2G spectrum and natural resources like coal blocks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Supreme Court ruled in 2012<\/strong> that the <strong>First Come First Serve<\/strong> method of resource allocation was vulnerable to manipulation, favouritism, and misuse, asking the government to adopt a transparent method.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How does the Mines and Minerals Bill 2023 Help?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Bill six previously mentioned atomic minerals<\/strong> (lithium, beryllium, niobium, titanium, tantalum and zirconium) from a list of 12 which cannot be commercially mined (reserved for government entities).\n<ul>\n<li><strong>These six minerals are now being put into a list of \u201ccritical and strategic\u201d minerals.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Bill allows prohibited activities<\/strong> under the Act like pitting, trenching, drilling, and sub-surface excavation as part of reconnaissance, which included mapping and surveys.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Bill also proposes a new type of license<\/strong> to encourage reconnaissance-level and or prospective stage \u200b\u200bexploration by the <strong>private sector<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>This exploration licence (EL)<\/strong>, for a period of five years (extendable by two years), will be granted by the state government by way of competitive bidding.<\/li>\n<li><strong>This license will be issued for 29 minerals <\/strong>specified in the Seventh Schedule of the amended Act, which would include critical, strategic, and deep-seated minerals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It also specifies the maximum area for exploration<\/strong> &#8211; activities in upto 1,000 sq kms will be allowed under a single exploration licence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"media\">\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FBD7MW_U0Zk\">\n<div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FBD7MW_U0Zk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Some Issues with the Bill\u2019s Proposals:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A process could take years to materialise<\/strong> owing to government timelines for clearances or may not happen at all considering the complexity of the deposit and geography.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The explorer would not know how much revenue<\/strong> they will receive as the auction premium would be known only when a mine is successfully auctioned.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Only the government can auction<\/strong> what an explorer has discovered and the latter would only get a share of the premium at an unknown stage.\n<ul>\n<li>This is unlike other global jurisdictions where private explorers can sell their discoveries to miners.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The SC had observed (in 2012) <\/strong>that since big capital investments go into discovering natural resources, companies would only spend big amounts if they\u2019re assured of utilising any discovered resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) is a US-led alliance launched in June 2022. It seeks to secure a stable supply of raw materials for their economies. As of July 2023, the MSP was composed of: Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, the UK, US, and the EU.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What are rare earth elements (REEs)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The rare earth elements (REE) are a set of 17 metallic elements. These include the 15 lanthanides on the periodic table plus scandium and yttrium. Rare earth elements are an essential part of many high-tech devices.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/explained-the-push-to-bring-the-private-sector-into-mineral-exploration\/article67168185.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Explained | The push to bring the private sector into mineral exploration<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill 2023 seeks to attract private sector investment in the exploration of critical and deep-seated minerals in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36749","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}