Parliament has passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2025 with the Rajya Sabha approving it today. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill. The bill will further amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. The Bill provides that lease holders may apply to the state government for adding other minerals to an existing lease. For inclusion of critical and strategic minerals, and other specified minerals, no additional amount needs to be paid. These include minerals such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, gold, and silver. The Act establishes the National Mineral Exploration Trust to fund mineral exploration in the country. The Bill widens the scope of the Trust to also fund development of mines and minerals. Under the Act, captive mines are allowed to sell up to 50 per cent of minerals produced in a year, after meeting end-use requirements. The Bill removes the limit on sale of minerals. The Bill provides for establishing an authority to register and regulate mineral exchanges.
Replying to the discussion on the Bill, Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy said that the government has brought revolutionary changes in the mining sector resulting in higher production of coal and minerals. He said, the states have received six lakh 85 thousand crore rupees from the Centre due to transparent allocation of mines, which was merely 68 thousand crore rupees ten years ago. He said, India is the second largest coal producer and second largest coal consumer. He said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, country’s coal production has crossed one billion tonnes for the first time. The Minister said, the government is also making efforts for exploration of critical minerals and it has identified 24 critical minerals. He informed that 32 thousand crore rupees have been allocated for the National Critical Mineral Mission.
Earlier, moving the Bill, the Minister highlighted that significant reforms have been made in the MMDR Act to eliminate the corruption that existed in the mining sector before 2014. He said, these amendments are an important step towards making India self-reliant in minerals.
Participating in the discussion, Dr Bhim Singh of BJP said the government has taken transformative steps to bring reforms in the mining sector in the last 11 years. He said, bill is aimed at ensuring availability of critical minerals. Milind Murli Deora of Shiv Sena stressed on the need to invest in rare earth materials to achieve self-reliance in energy security. He said the Bill will secure direct access to mines not just in India but also abroad. Praful Patel of NCP said the Bill will create a fund which will help in exploration and mapping of critical minerals which are available in the country.
