Monday was sort of mining day. After several meetings between the PMO and mining ministry officials, the Union Cabinet cleared a proposal for setting up a commission to check illegal mining; the proposed commission has been asked to submit a report within 18 months. In the Rajya Sabha, Union mines minister BK Handique promised that a National Mining Regulatory Authority was being set up to detect, investigate and prosecute cases involving illegal mining. Note that the Indian Bureau of Mines currently serves as a toothless regulator, with technical expertise at best. In the market, the buzz was about mining giant Vedanta acquiring a substantial chunk of oil and gas giant Cairn India, in which India?s largest iron-ore exporter Sesa Goa Ltd will also hold a goodly glob. In the Lok Sabha, minister of state for commerce and industry Jyotiraditya Scindia did some sabre-rattling against restricting iron-ore exports, arguing, ?If iron-ore exports are restricted, it would affect economic activities in remote areas where handling of iron ore is the main employment generating activity.? Note that in an effort to control illegal mining, Karnataka has banned the export of this steel-making ingredient. On the Union environmental ministry front, a report was released arguing that Vedanta shouldn?t be given permission to mine bauxite in Orissa, where this would deprive tribals of their rights. Note that the Union ministry has been in the news for demarcating ?no go? areas for coal mining as well. During the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Handique promised that the new mines and minerals legislation would do full justice to both ecological issues and tribal rights. What is the coherent argument we can pull together from these disparate developments?
Actually we can?t. It?s not just that different Union Cabinet representatives are speaking in different tongues?environmentalism, commerce, self-sustainability. Even the Opposition just hasn?t got its act together. The BJP cannot make up its mind about its position on the Reddy brothers in Karnataka, where they are at the heart of an illegal mining maelstrom. But notwithstanding the turf battles between ministries and between political parties, the bottom line remains that India?s mining sector is in urgent need of reform. We have been hoping that the new mining legislation will deliver this reform?fair, competitive, transparent pricing of resources. But will it be delivered in the current Parliament session?
