Mineral exploration to attract global firms

To give a fillip to the stagnant mining sector, the govt had on January 12 promulgated the Mining & Mineral Development Regulatory Amendment Ordinance, 2015

With the government opening up the mineral exploration sector, global mining engineering, technology and services (METS) companies are likely to be interested in India.

"The huge amount of unexplored land in India has always kept these companies interested and, with these new rules, they would like to come now ," said a mining expert, who did not wish to be named.

To give a fillip to the stagnant mining sector, the government had on January 12 promulgated the Mining & Mineral Development Regulatory Amendment Ordinance, 2015, under Article 123(1) of the Constitution.

"The Indian mining sector has earned bad reputation and is considered unpredictable by these companies. The clarity of the new ordinance will definitely encourage them to come here," said a leading miner from south India.

According to the ordinance, non-exclusive reconnaissance permits will be granted to companies interested in exploration, according to the terms and conditions of the Centre.

Experts are of the opinion that most of the country's landscape has not been explored for minerals. "Mining exploration spend in India is very low, and this translates into lower valuation for the government and the lease holders find it hard to attract capital," said Kameswara Rao, leader (energy, utilities and mining) at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "In comparison, Australia spends 14 times higher in terms of $ per km; China and Brazil spend four times and three times, respectively."