The Ministry of Coal on 6th August 2021 has published the Draft Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2021 to further amend the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.
The Ministry has invited Objections and suggestions from the public which shall be addressed to the Secretary (P&S-I section), Ministry of Coal, Government of India, Room No.350, A-wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi 110001 or emailed at rishan.r75@nic.in within 30 days.
A new rule 24C relating to the Period of mining lease granted to Government companies or corporations has been inserted through this amendment.
All mining leases granted on or after commencement of the Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2021 to a Government company or corporation for coal or lignite shall be for a period of fifty years and all subsisting mining leases shall be deemed to have been granted for fifty years or till 31st March 2030, whichever is later.
Further, the manner of sale of coal or lignite by the lessee of a captive mine has been notified as follows:
Any lessee may, where coal or lignite is used for captive purpose, sell coal or lignite up to such per cent. of the total coal or lignite produced in a financial year, after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine.
Within one month of the end of a financial year, for sale made in the previous financial year, the lessee shall submit to the Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal, Coal Controller’s Organization and to the State Government, a self-declaration in Form ‘R’
Further rules 28 states that, Where production and dispatch has not commenced within a period of two years from the date of execution of the mining lease, or is discontinued for a continuous period of two years after commencement of production or dispatch, the mining lease shall lapse on the expiry of the period of two years from the date of execution of the lease or, as the case may be, discontinuance of the production and dispatch.
The lapsing of the mining lease shall be recorded through an order issued by the State Government and shall also be communicated to the lessee.
Where a lessee is unable to commence the production and dispatch within a period of two years from the date of execution of the mining lease or discontinuation of production and dispatch for reasons beyond his control, he may submit an application to the State Government, requesting for an extension of the period of such two years by a further period not exceeding one year, explaining the reasons for the same, at least three months before the expiry of such period of two years: Provided where the lessee has failed to make the application within the time stipulated above, the lease shall lapse on expiry of the period of two years.
