Mines ministry, states agree to speed up clearances

Push for grant of approvals and land acquisition in a time-bound manner in a bid to promote ease of doing business

The Union ministry of mines and mineral-rich states have arrived at a consensus for grant of various clearances and land acquisition in a time-bound manner, in an attempt to promote ease of doing business.

They also agreed to prepare software to monitor clearances required post-auction and till the start of mining. The format was arrived at in a meeting held on May 10.

The agreement comes before the Centre issues notices for auction of 100 major minerals in 2016-17. Notices for auction of 43 mines have been issued, of which six have been sold in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. These states have mobilised Rs 18,146 crore.

The Union environment ministry is expected to accord its clearance for the auctioned mines in 165 days. Issue of terms of reference will need 30 days, another 30 days for public consultation, 60 days for submission of environment impact assessment and environment management plan, and decision by the Expert Appraisal Committee for grant of environment clearance in 45 days.

MINE MONITOR

• Mines ministry and states agree to prepare software to monitor clearances required post-auction and till the start of mining
• Software would monitor time lines for each of the key activities involved in clearance
• Notices for auction of 43 mines issued, of which six have been sold in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha mobilising Rs 18,146 crore.

The stage-I forest clearance is expected in 90 days, while another 90 days would be required for the application for stage-II. Further, stage-II approval will be granted in 45 days.

The time required for mining plans is reduced to two months from three months. In case of requisite consent of landowners, it is expected in 60 days while 120 days is required for land acquisition for mining.

A source in the ministry told Business Standard that the software would monitor time lines for each of the key activities involved in the clearance or approval process.

“The state government will be able to update the processing status on a portal for monitoring and expediting the post-auction clearances. Bidders will register on the portal to be able to flag issues and provide updates,” a source said.

Furthermore, the sources said the environment ministry would soon finalise guidelines for forest clearance for delegation of powers to the states based upon the canopy density. For forests with up to 40 per cent tree canopy density, approval from the state government concerned will suffice, whereas for higher densities a central approval would be needed.

The ministry of mines and the states have agreed that if the tree canopy density of a forest is less than 40 per cent clearance should be completed within two months and for denser forests the clearance should be completed within six months.