National Mineral Policy 2006 - Department of Mines

and/or make presentations detailing their perceptions in respect of the various terms ofreference of the Committee. The Committee viewed the presentations and held exhaustivediscussions on the issues raised by the stakeholders.4. The Committee studied the various reports prepared and submitted by study groupsand in-house committees set up by various ministries from time to time on the issues beforethe Committee. In the main, these included a Review Paper on the findings andrecommendations of all previous committees set up by the Ministry of Mines from time totime, including the recommendations of the committee set up in 2005 under the chairmanshipof the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Mines to recommend changes in the MMDR Act,Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 (MCR), and Mineral Conservation and Development Rules,1958 (MCDR), the steel ministry’s Dang Committee report on the allocation of iron oremines [along with the dissenting note of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI)],and the policy paper of the Ministry of Mines on the same subject.5. The Committee gave consideration to the mineral policies of the states as presentedby the state governments, especially to the differing perceptions of mineral-rich and nonmineral-richstates. The Committee also gave consideration to the papers prepared by FIMI,which provided comparative analyses of the mineral policies and statutes of other majormineral producing countries in the world such as Australia, Canada, Chile, and South Africa,the changes in these policies and statutes over time, and the lessons that could be drawn fromthem.6. The presentations submitted to the Committee are listed in Appendix C. The Reportsof in-house committees etc. are listed in Appendices D and E. The paper on comparativeanalysis of the mineral policies of other countries may be seen at Appendices F–I.7. The Report is presented in eight chapters. The first seven chapters deal with the seventerms of reference of the Committee respectively. In each case, the issues are spelt out, thearguments of the concerned interest groups examined, and the recommendations are laid out.In Chapter 7, important issues raised in the Committee that are not covered by the first sixterms of reference are taken up. These include four important issues whose resolution wouldbe important not only for stimulating investment flows and inducting state-of-the-arttechnology but also for the smooth functioning of mining operations in the country. These3