INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Vishnu Sudarsan, Kartikeya Gajjala and Mehar Vasant, J Sagar Associates
• List III, the Concurrent List, sets out the sub - jects over which the centre and states have shared power. In this regard, the following is notable. • Entry 54 of the Union List reads as follows: “Regulation of mines and mineral develop - ment to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest.” • Entry 23 of the State List reads as follows: “Regulation of mines and mineral develop - ment subject to the provisions of List I with respect to regulation and development under the control of the Union.” Pursuant to Entry 54 of the Union List, the Parlia - ment of India has enacted the Mines and Min - erals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (the MMDR Act), which is the main source of legislation governing the development and regu - lation of mines and minerals in India. The MMDR Act declares that it is in the public interest that the Union should take the regulation of mines and the development of minerals under its con - trol, to the extent provided in the MMDR Act. This means that the jurisdiction of the states is excluded to the extent of the fields covered by such declaration. The MMDR Act lays out various key aspects regarding the mining sector, including the types of mineral concessions that may be granted, the manner of granting such concessions, the persons eligible to win such concessions, and the maximum permissible area for mining by any particular person. The following rules have been notified by the central government pursuant to the MMDR Act, and are key elements of the gov - erning framework:
• the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015, which set out the terms, conditions and procedure for conducting mineral auctions, including the net worth requirements and bidding param - eters; • the Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Minerals) Concession Rules, 2016, which detail the terms and conditions of mineral concessions, stipulations concern - ing mining plans, procedures for transferring mineral concessions and the manner of cal - culating royalty payable on minerals; and • the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017, which set out provisions con - cerning sustainable mining, the requirements for plans and sections, and the stipulations concerning mining operations. The central government has also formulated the NMP, which highlights the following principles/ objectives for the mining sector in India: • the promotion of domestic industry, reduc - ing import dependency and feeding into the Make in India initiative; • in order to make the regulatory environment conducive to the ease of doing business, the procedures for the granting of mineral con - cessions shall be transparent and seamless, with an assured security of tenure along with transferability of concessions playing a key role in mineral sector development; • simpler, transparent and time-bound proce - dures for obtaining clearances to ensure the regulatory environment are conducive to the ease of doing business; • the government will endeavour to design fiscal measures, within the context of the budget, that are conducive to the promo - tion of mineral exploration and development, including beneficiation and other forms of product refinement; and
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