The Indian government has set up a panel to reframe the National Mineral Policy 2008 in response to the Supreme Court verdict which has imposed huge penalties for illegal iron ore and manganese ore mining in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, a government official said on Thursday, August 17.
The official said that the panel has been mandated to prepare a roadmap and suggest changes in the National Mineral Policy and even recommend outlines of a new policy as the Supreme Court in its verdict directed that that the government should look into having a new mineral policy in the wake of illegalities in iron ore and manganese ore mining, with greater emphasis of environmental issues and conservation of mineral assets.
The panel will be headed by an additional secretary in the Ministry of Mines, with representations from the Ministries of Railways, and of Environment and Forests, the Indian Bureau of Mines, the Geological Survey of India and representatives from industry organizations.
In a verdict last week, a bench of the Supreme Court ruled that mining companies would be liable to pay back 100 percent of the price of mineral extracted in violation of the law while rejecting an earlier plea of the Indian government and Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee on illegal mining that only 30 percent of value of mineral should be recovered from the companies.
In response to the verdict, the Odisha government has decided to recover a penalty of $3.17 billion on mine owners for illegal iron ore and manganese ore mined in violation of environmental laws.