Team Herald
PANJIM: A Goa-based mine owner has petitioned the Union Ministry of Mines constituted Dr K V Rao Committee proposing to incorporate the concept of granting incentives to the iron ore mining lease holder who adopts sustainable mining practices, in the new National Mineral Policy (NMP), the drafting of which has commenced.
Mine owner Harish Melvani in his representation to the Rao committee during the third meeting held last month to review the NMP, has proposed that the incentives for following Sustainable Mining Practices be granted to the lease holder by way of either some recognition scheme or by tax credits.
He has also recommended setting up of Mineral Processing Parks or Estates near the mineral bearing areas with adequate power and transport network. Easier availability of land in proximity to the lease area and finance for the mineral extraction and processing units should be also part of the policy, he said.
“Recognition to State Governments who are proactive in the implementation of the NMP and those that adopt same into a State Mineral Policy which should include also a dump mining policy to extract valuable minerals from the old dumps,” Melvani stated.
The mine owner proposed that preference should be given in allocation of mineral resources to entrepreneurs who plan for downstream utilisation of maximum extractions, with local employment and value addition. He said that a certain percentage of the Mineral District Development Fund be allocated to mineral exploration and processing purpose and for research into mineral utilisation.
Melvani said that the policy should encourage extraction of maximum number of mineral products, if encountered in the later stage of mining, within the lease area.
He demanded recognising the downstream processing of minerals as an industrial activity, for the purpose of defining the captive nature of the lease, with some lower stipulation on the value addition and employment creation in rural area, so that investors and the society will be encouraged to add value to the minerals.
He also said that the policy should recognise water harvesting in mined out pits as an acceptable closure activity particularly in water deficient area or where rainwater runs off into the ocean and can be conserved and used for irrigation or as a raw material for industrial processes.
