Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2021 : Ministry of Coal
MINISTRY OF COAL
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 6th August, 2021
G.S.R. 542(E).—The following draft of certain rules further to amend the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960, which the Central Government proposes to make, in exercise of powers conferred by Section 13 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (No.67 of 1957), is hereby published as required under the said section for informing all persons likely to be affected thereby and notice is hereby given that the said draft rules shall be taken into consideration on or after the expiry of a period of thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Gazette of India containing these rules are made available to public;
Objections and suggestions which may be received from any person within the period specified above will be considered by the Central Government;
Objections and suggestions, if any, may be addressed to the Under Secretary (P&S-I section), Ministry of Coal, Government of India, Room No.350, A-wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi 110001 or emailed at [email protected].
DRAFT RULES
1. Short title and commencement.—(1) These Rules may be called Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2021.
(2) These shall come into force on the date of their publication in Gazette of India.
2. In Rule 2, sub-rule (1) after clause (vii) of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as the principal rules) the following shall be inserted, namely;-
“(viia) “run-of-mine” means the raw, unprocessed or uncrushed material in its natural state obtained after blasting or digging, from the mineralised zone of a lease area;”
3. In the principal rules, after Rule 24B the following rule shall be inserted, namely;-
“24C. Period of mining lease granted to Government companies or corporations—
4. 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.
Read also : Online Admission Open to B.Tech, MBBS, BBA/PGDM all private colleges in Delhi/NCR
5. All subsisting mining leases granted to a Government company or corporation before commencement the Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2021 for coal or lignite shall be deemed to have been granted for fifty years or till 31st March 2030, whichever is later.
6. The State Government, upon an application made to it in this behalf by the Government company or corporation at least three months prior to the expiry of the mining lease, shall extend the period of the mining lease for a further period of twenty years at a time.
Provided that the State Government may condone the delay in application for extension made after the time limit prescribed in this sub-rule.
Provided further that no extension of period of mining lease shall be granted to a Government company or corporation that has been selected through auction.
5. If an application for extension of mining lease made within the time referred to in sub-rule (3) is not disposed by the State Government before the date of expiry of the lease, the period of that lease shall be deemed to have been extended till the State Government passes an order of extension.
6. All applications made by a Government company or corporation for renewal of mining lease which were pending as on the date of commencement of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 (16 of 2021) shall be deemed to be applications for extension of the period of the mining lease and shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of sub- rule (3).”
4. In the principal rules, after rule 27 of the principal rules, the following rule shall be inserted, namely;-
“27A. Manner of sale of coal or lignite by the lessee of a captive mine
1. 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, as allowed under sub-section (5) of section 8, after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine.
Explanation 1- For the purpose of this rule it is clarified that the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine for a financial year shall be the actual quantity of coal or lignite consumed in the said plant in that financial year or a part thereof.
Explanation 2 – For the purpose of this rule, quantity of coal or lignite produced, sold, utilised in linked end-use plant and the payment of additional amount on the quantity sold shall be assessed on run-of-mine basis.
Explanation 3- Sale of any tailings, rejects or middlings shall not be restricted by this rule.
2. For the quantity of coal or lignite sold in accordance with sub-section (5) of section 8, the lessee shall pay to the State Government, at the time of payment of royalty, an additional amount as specified in the Sixth Schedule of the Act, which shall be in addition to royalty or payment to the District Mineral Foundation and National Mineral Exploration Trust or any other statutory payment or payment specified in the tender document or the auction premium (wherever applicable).
3. 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’.
4. For the purpose of this rule, it is clarified that the provision for sale of coal or lignite as prescribed in this rule shall not affect the eligibility conditions and efficiency parameters prescribed in the respective agreements entered into by the lessee with the Central Government.
5. Sale of coal shall not be allowed from the coal mines allotted to a company or corporation that has been awarded a power project on the basis of competitive bid for tariff (including Ultra Mega Power Projects).”
5. In the principal rules, rule 28 shall be substituted by the following, namely:-
“ 28. Lapsing of Leases:-
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Application made under sub-rule (3) shall specify in detail:
a. the reasons on account of which it will not be possible for the lessee to undertake mining operations or continue production and dispatch;
b. the manner in which such reasons are beyond the control of the lessee;
c. and the steps that have been taken by the lessee to mitigate the impact of such reasons; and
d. the period for which the extension is sought.
5. Every application under sub-rule (3) shall be accompanied by a fee of Rs. 200.
6. The State Government shall, after examining the adequacy and genuineness of the reasons for the non-commencement of production and dispatch or discontinuance thereof, pass an order, within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the application made under sub-rule (3) or the date on which the mining lease would have otherwise lapsed, whichever is earlier, either granting or rejecting such request:
Provided that such mining lease shall lapse on failure to undertake production and dispatch or inability to continue production and dispatch within the extended period of one year.
Provided further that such extension shall not be granted for more than once during the entire period of lease.
7. The State Government shall communicate to the Coal Controller’s Organization, Nominated Authority and Ministry of Coal the order recorded under sub-rule (2) or issued under sub-rule (6) within fifteen days of recording or issuing of such order.”
6. In the principal rules, rule 28A shall be omitted.
7. In the principal rules, for rule 64B, the following rule shall be substituted, namely;-
“64B. Charging and instance of payment of royalty in case of minerals subjected to processing
The royalty shall be charged on run-of-mine coal or lignite irrespective of its processing within or outside the leased area.
Provided that the royalty shall be payable at the time of dispatch from or consumption within the leased area.”
8. In the principal rules, rule 64C shall be omitted.
9. In the principal rules, after Form ‘Q’, the following Form ‘R’ shall be inserted, namely;-…………………………… Read More.