Following ordinance, Mines Ministry constitutes committee

Following the President's nod to the mines ordinance, the government has formed a nine-member committee to ascertain reserves in the mines to be put for auction.
"The committee shall prescribe parameters of evidence regarding existence of mineral contents in line with the requirements of the ordinance in unambiguous terms," the Mines Ministry said today.
The President had on January 12 promulgated the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015, paving the way for auctioning of mines containing minerals such as iron ore and bauxite.
The ministry said the panel would consider all aspects of delineating mineralisation for the purpose of earmarking it for direct Mining Lease (ML) auction or Prospecting Licence (PL)-cum-ML auction including the transition from reconnaissance Permit to PL and PL to ML.

"The Committee shall prescribe mineral-wise/deposit-wise parameters of evidence of existence of minerals contents," it said.
The nine-member committee would be chaired by Ranjan Sahai, Controller of Mines (Planning and Co-ordination), IBM.
The Mines Ministry has asked the Committee to submit its draft report by January 29 and the final report by February 13 following consultations with stakeholders on the draft report.