Due to the latest amendments to the act and the rules notified, now there is no possibility of new mineral discovery.

As green field areas cannot be auctioned under the existing regime, these would remain unexplored, maybe for a long time till GSI identifies the same. The role of GSI is very important in this regard and also in providing pre-competitive baseline data of high standard but there are limitations in the role of GSI in terms of carrying out detailed exploration.

In this context, it maybe stated that many large Mineral deposits in India have not been discovered by GSI. A few examples can be cited as that of Rampura- Agucha lead/zinc deposit, Banwas copper deposit and Jhamar Kota rock phosphate deposit etc. in Rajasthan alone. These deposits are chance discoveries by individuals or by other agencies or based on old workings etc. The GSI has undoubtedly done commendable work in identifying potential areas and hundreds of prospects but all these may not qualify for Auction mainly because of insufficient (G-3 or G-4) level data on one hand and no economic viability for investment decision on the other. As the economic viability of a mineral deposit is prima facie the sole criteria to attract the private investment, certain relaxations in the Auction rules in terms of incentives may deserve merit, in order to attract investment in Greenfield or unexplored areas.

Conclusion :  The national planning commission constituted a High Level Committee to study and submit a report about the amendments to be bring in act to encourage the mining industries. It is available in http://planningcommission.gov.in/reports/genrep/rep_nmp.pdf 

Unfortunately, since now the BJP Govt., has come to power, they completely ignore the High Level Committee report by making irrelevant amendments. So direct and indirect new employment in private sector for two million people is not generated.

The negative impact in mining sector for discouragement of private investment in mineral exploration and development.

Discouragement to Private Investment in Mineral Exploration and Development

 The National Mineral Policy 2008 of Government of India vide item 5.2 states that “while Government Agencies would continue to perform the tasks assigned to them for exploration and survey, the private sector would be the main source of investment in reconnaissance and prospecting and government agencies would spend public fund primarily in areas where private sector investment are not forthcoming”. However on the contrary, 11 Central and State PSUs have been notified as agencies for carrying out exploration under section 4(1) of the MMDR ACT 1957. This may not yield any result, since detailed exploration is not the core activity of these agencies. On the other hand, the National Mineral Exploration Policy 2016 (NMEP) states that Private agencies could be engaged to carryout exploration work in identified blocks/areas with the right to a certain share in the revenue (certain percentage of royalty/premium) when Mineral blocks on the basis of successful exploration are put on e-auction.

It may be mentioned that private investment is a function of risk and return in prospecting and because of uncertainty in this proposal, the private investment is not foreseen and may not materialize.

The export duty rates in India are again on the heights which are ranging from 10% to 20% for Ore extracted and 10% to 40% for processed ore. The rates are 10% for refined metals. Mica has the highest export duty of 40% with no exemption. The export duty on iron ore and concentrates has the export duty of 30% with an exemption of 20% resulting in the effective rate of 10%.

International Comparison of Taxes on Mining Exports: 2012

Source:  (Basic data) PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2012