Honorable Modi ji while you are espousing a case for Aatmanirbhar Bharat the bureaucrats in Ministry of Mines through the Public Notice of 24 Aug 2020 and Revised Public Notice of 18 Sept 2020 [Public Notice] are attempting to backstab this multi-generational transformational initiative and continue to perpetuate their bureaucratic grip by killing the initiative of Indian Miners by proposing to delete MMDR Clause 10(A)(2b)(2c).

The proposal of the Ministry is a grave injustice to both Indian and overseas investors and exploration companies (EC) many of whom have made outstanding and virgin mineral discoveries by investing hundreds of crores at the stage of exploration with further substantial investment of thousands of crores to follow once the mineral concessions are granted .The bureaucrats at Center and States instead of issuing the PL/ML, they purposefully delayed it for many years  intentionally or unintentionally. They even went to the extent that they are reviewing their own decisions after granting licenses. They disregarded court orders on rights of EC companies.

India’s image as an investor friendly nation will be further dented internationally. Laws once established and relied upon by the industry cannot be altered and that too retrospectively. If these rights are taken away from Exploration Companies through amendment / deletion of Section 10(A)(2b)(2c), they will approach the Supreme Courts / International Courts to seek justice. These discoveries would then remain undeveloped and tied up in litigation well into the future. Increased litigation because of deletion of clause will overburden the existing overburdened Judicial System. I am sure government does not want that.

Such a retrospective move would indefinitely delay domestic mineral production, send a damaging message to the international investment community whom these bureaucrats are trying to attract as deletion of this clause will result in loss of millions of $ for companies like Panthera Resources - listed on AIM Board, London, Indo Gold NL - based in Australia,  and even professionally managed Indian Companies like Larsen & Toubro and Tata Steel. When value of investment of these companies diminish, do you think India can attract investment in Mining sector. Already global mining majors like DeBeers India Pvt Ltd, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto India after discovering the famous Bunder Diamond deposit in MP State abandoned their Indian Investment and India Strategy. Deletion of 10(A)(2b)(2c) will further worsen the investment sentiment.

The NDA Government has recognized the rights of those explorers who had spent time and money and fulfilled qualifying criteria under the Amended MMDR Act 2015. But the bureaucratic system at the State Level with or without the tacit support of the Ministry of Mines did nothing to clear the back log of legal rights vested under Sections 10A(2b)(2c) despite the mandated 60 & 120 days’ time lines stipulated in Rules 5,6 and 7 of MCR-2016 for acting upon the files. This is how the system not only deprived the country of the opportunities for saving on the precious foreign exchange and opportunities for creation of employment in rural India but also frustrated the investors and destroyed their business plans. Whilst the Ministry now proposes to punish investors by expropriating their legal rights vested under Sections10A(2b)(2c), the proposal is SILENT on ways and means of making the snail-paced bureaucracy in mineral sector accountable for inefficiencies and delays.

The Industry’s Associations like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Mineral Industries(FIMI), Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) have already represented not to delete 10(A)(2b)(2c) [CII & FIMI Letters].

Most Importantly policy think tank of the Government of India- NITI Ayog is against the deletion of 10(A)(2b)(2c), as Vice Chairman, Mr. Rajiv Kumar  has already written to Mr. Prahlad Joshi on 19th May 2020 and to your good self then why the bureaucrats in Ministry of Mines want to remove the Clause 10(A)(2b)(2c) of MMDR (Amendment) Act, 2015 [Niti Aayog writes to PMO against the amendment of MMDR Act], [Niti Aayog warns mines ministry against cancellation of pending claims].

APPEAL TO PROVIDE JUSTICE TO AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT BY :- 

1. Saving all cases under section 10(A)(2b)(2c) of MMDR (Amendment) Act, 2015, where all the conditions have been fulfilled by Applicants, must be expeditiously granted by the States & the Ministry within the number of days stipulated in MCR-2016.
2. Government should reserve the right mentioned in the law in order to sustain investors’ confidence.
3. Use section 30 of MMDR Act to give approvals if states are failing to adhere to stipulations in the Act and guidelines.
4. Review of prior approvals granted should stop. Such reviews unnecessarily holds up processing of files for years and projects that would otherwise have been developed remain undeveloped, costs blow out, employment is inhibited, revenues in the form of taxes, royalties are not generated and ultimately lead to litigation.
5. A firm direction needs to be issued to state governments to simply process all applications earlier approved, to discard reviews of earlier approved applications and equally importantly where orders have been made by the Courts, to comply with those orders.
6. Hold accountable bureaucrats who were responsible for non-implementing changes to MMDR act government initiated.
7. Create an independent Mining Regulatory Authority and Tribunal to give credibility to the sector on lines of Gold Board of India suggested by NITI Aayog

Please sign this  petition requesting Respected Narendra Modi Ji, Pralhad Joshi Ji not to delete the MMDR Clause 10(A)(2b)(2c) and expedite the approval process for issuing PL/ML to make Aatmanirbhar Bharat successful.
 

Yours sincerely,

Young Concerned Citizen of India - Aditya Raghunathan