Naveen says new law will not help poor

BHUBANESWAR: The new Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011 that would replace the old legislation of 1957, has not gone down well with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The draft Bill was on Friday approved by the Union Cabinet and would be tabled in Parliament in the next session.Dubbing the Bill as “too little and too late”, Naveen said the Bill would not help the poor in the mineral-rich areas. In fact, Naveen had dashed off a letter to the Prime Minister earlier this month detailing some of the suggestions, which probably have not been positively considered.The new Bill has provision for 26 per cent profit-sharing on coal and an additional 10 per cent on iron ore. Earlier this month, the Chief Minister, in a letter to the Prime Minister, had demanded 50 per cent share on the super normal profit made by the private mines owners and imposition of a mineral resource tax on iron ore.“The insatiable demand for iron ore in export market has made it highly profitable with returns from mining being far in excess of economically acceptable rates,” he had said, adding the super normal profits being made were unheard-of in any other industry.This has led to a situation where, in spite of the State being the owners of the resources, the mine owners were benefiting beyond any measure of reasonable returns, he said.The Chief Minister had suggested to the Centre to follow the line adopted by the Australian Government which recently announced to impose mineral resource rent tax of 30 per cent on iron ore and allow the States to levy 50 per cent rent tax on iron ore.The new Bill has among provisions a National Mining Regulatory Authority to address the burning issue of illegal mining and special courts at the State level for speedier disposal of the cases.The draft Bill has provisions for enhancing penalties for violation of provisions of the Act, including debarment of person convicted of illegal mining from future grants and termination of all mineral concessions held by such person. The Bill has special provisions for allowing mining of small deposits in cluster where cooperatives can also apply. The draft Bill has the provisions for sustainable and scientific mining through a  development framework, consultation with local community before notifying an area for grant of concession and approval of mine closure plans.