Restructuring of National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) as Autonomous Body
- Category
Polity & Governance
- Published
10th Aug, 2021
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Context
Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs urged the officials of the Ministry of Mines to restructure the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) as an autonomous body.
About
About the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET)
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The holders of the Mining Lease and Prospecting Licence-cum-Mining Lease make payments which are equivalent to 2% of royalty, for minerals under the second schedule of the Act.
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The Trust supports the regional and detailed mineral exploration in the country.
Need for the autonomy
- There is a need to focus on the exploration of gold and rare earth along with other segments of India’s mineral exploration efforts.
- To streamline the system of extending financial assistance to statesfor enhanced exploration.
- It will create an atmosphere of competition among states to step up exploration.
- This will encourage mining exploration to be more frequent and result-oriented.
Mining in India
- Mining is regulated in India under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 (MMDR Act).
- The MMDR Act was amended in 2015 with the intention of removing discretion and introducing more transparency in the allocation process.
- A National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP) was brought out by the Government in 2016 followed by the National Mineral Policy 2019.
- The policy supported the encouragement of the private sector to take up exploration and that “exploration should be incentivized to attract private investments as well as state-of-the-art technology, within the ambit of the auction regime, through Right of First Refusal at the time of auction.
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