National Mineral Policy 2006 - Department of Mines

undertaking aerial surveys, the exercise involves clearances from the Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department ofAtomic Energy (DAE), GSI, National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), and Department ofTelecommunications. At present, after the Ministry of Mines conveys the approval for grantof RPs, the applicant is entitled to file his application with the DGCA for permission forairborne surveys. (However, in most cases the applicant waits for the Letter of Intent to beissued by the state government concerned before applying for permission for the airbornesurvey. This is primarily because the applicant prefers to keep the state government involvedthroughout.) After the application for airborne survey is received, the DGCA routinely sendsoff copies to various Departments. While the Ministry of Defence normally takes about 45days to complete its internal examination, which primarily involves obtaining comments ofindividual Divisions and Departments, the Ministry of Home Affairs takes about 30 days forthe purpose. The final decision is taken on the files of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and isconveyed to the applicant by the DGCA. Clearances are also required from the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests (MOEF) separately from the environment and forest angle. TheForest and Environment clearances are particularly complex and have been dealt withseparately in Chapter 3.SINGLE WINDOW: CO-ORDINATION-CUM-EMPOWERED COMMITTEEAPPROACH2.13 It can be seen that the present procedures are lengthy, cumbersome, and lacking intransparency. The Committee headed by the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Mines,established in 2005, recommended a single window for approval/recommendation so as tobring greater transparency and reduce procedural complexities and consequential delays.However, since both at the Centre and the states a number of authorities and departments areinvolved, a single window in the form of a competent authority delegated with all therequisite powers cannot be created without extensive changes in the law, rules, andprocedures. A multi-departmental Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee approach is theclosest arrangement to a single window clearance that can be contemplated.2.14 The Committee recommends that in order to streamline procedures and minimisedelay, Coordination-cum-Empowered Committees should be set up at the state and Centralgovernment levels for taking decisions on applications for RP, LAPL, PL, and ML. Furtherdetails of recommended procedures are given below:55