'Draft rules on mines auction ready for states' comments'

The draft regulations on the auction of mines have been prepared and will be sent to states to seek their views within a week, Mines and Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Thursday.

"The draft rules and the regulations have been finalised and will be sent to the states for suggestions within a week. The states will be given a time-frame within which they can reply," Tomar told reporters here.

"Since mines is a state subject, auctioning of mines will be conducted by states in which the role of the Centre would be limited to framing the rules to be followed in the process," he added.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, passed by parliament last month introduces the system of auction of mines to enhance transparency in mineral allocations.

Tomar said the states will not require approval from the central government for auctioning as this is a state subject.

The minister added that if the states desire they can set aside mines for their public sector units besides participating in the auction process.

The act envisages spending of a fixed percentage of revenue generated from mining on the development of the local area.

The minister also told reporters that the government is actively considering higher import duty on steel from China.

"China dumping steel in the country is a concern for both the industry as well as the government. The industry have met with us and relayed their concerns and we have been talking to the finance ministry about the need to implement a higher import duty," he said.

--Indo-Asian News service

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