Rules to be amended to enable IBM okay mining applications

Rules to be amended to enable IBM okay mining applications

In a bid to expedite mining projects, the government has decided to make changes in existing rules and give more teeth to Indian Bureau of Mines, which would now make decisions on new proposals at pre-submission stage within 90 days.

The decision came in the course of a meeting to review IBM’s functioning in which the Ministry reasoned that timely approval of mining plans was crucial to mineral extraction and IBM should inform all prospective mine owners applying for approval of their plans, according to an official release here.

The Ministry was also considering a proposal of the IBM to create a legal cell to give more teeth to its regulatory activities so that pending cases could be cleared.

IBM Controller General pointed out in the meeting that during 2003-04 about 500 cases were filed involving 61 mines, of which 300 to 350 cases were still pending.

The Ministry directed the IBM to make its website more interactive. Detailed guidelines for project implementation with prescribed unit cost would be prepared and mining companies and they would have to bear the cost of regeneration and rehabilitation of abandoned or orphaned mines.

The IBM has already prepared project proposals for 106 mining sites in consultation with the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), the release added.

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