De Beers Venture Decision Put Off Again

The refusal this time is on grounds that it will now be waiting for the ministry of mines to finalise the mining policy before reviewing the proposal.

In order to ease its operations in Madhya Pradesh, the joint venture had also roped in the Madhya Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (MPMDC) in July by offering them a 10 per cent stake in the project.

While the Madhya Pradesh state government had already recommended the venture to be cleared by the Centre in early 1995, Reliance had put in a fresh proposal for clearance after including MPMDC in the proposal.

The new proposal hopes to get a larger area for prospecting as compared to the current area allotted under the present Mining Act.

 

While the government seems to have made some headway in finalising a mining policy for coal, the absence of any clear guidelines on mining of precious metals from the Central government has stalled the venture till now.

Reliance and De Beers propose to set up a $30-million joint venture with equal equity participation by both parties. The project had up come for consideration at the Foreign Investment and Promotion Board (FIPB) meeting around the second week of August.

At that time, the FIPB had deferred it on the ground that it needed a few more details from the applicants. Now, however, it has put the proposal on the backburner till the new mining policy is framed.

The project was supposed to be cleared early this year when the chairman of De Beers