New mining policy to ensure ease of business, faster clearances: Gadkari

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said the mining policy being framed by the Centre would provide ease of doing business as all clearances will be given in three months so that the extraction process starts in the fourth month. He said all bottlenecks would be removed under the new mining policy. The Minister for Road Transport and Highways was speaking at the "India@100 charting Vidarbha's journey to a Developed India" in Nagpur. Talking about various developments taking place in Gadchiroli district in Vidarbha in the fields of mining and steel, he said a mining policy was being framed by the central government. "This mining policy came up for an approval in the cabinet meeting recently. However, the prime minister was not fully convinced about it and after I gave some suggestions, he (the PM) directed the cabinet secretary to discuss and review the policy with me," he said.

Gadkari said he suggested that the policy should allow the mining process to start as soon as possible. He said he suggested that the environmental clearance should be given in a maximum of one month. "Similarly, the state and central government will give all the necessary clearances. Accordingly, all required permissions will be given in three months and then production should start in the fourth month," he said.

"This will create ease of doing business as all bottlenecks will be removed...," he said.

Talking about creating more employment opportunities in Vidarbha, the minister recalled the statements of Mahatma Gandhi and country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. "Nehruji used to say that we need maximum production, and Gandhiji used to say that we need maximum production with the involvement of maximum number of people," he said.