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Thursday, March 12, 2015

Mines, coal bills now referred to panels Wednesday March 11,2015

The Opposition on Wednesday March 11,2015 won the first round of the battle over Ordinances by forcing the Modi government to refer two crucial bills related to mining sector to Parliamentary committees.

By agreeing to climb down on the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2015 and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill 2015, the NDA Government might have earned some assurances from the Opposition on other crucial legislative matters.

At a meeting convened by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, the government and Opposition leaders agreed on the composition of the select committees to examine the MMDRA and the coal bills within a week.

Note

President Pranab Mukherjee on 12 January 2015 gave his assent to an ordinance that amends the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, 1957. The ordinance paves way for introduction of competitive bidding for allocation of mines of iron ore and other non-coal minerals.

Earlier, the promulgation of ordinance to amend the MMDR Act, 1957 was approved by the Union Cabinet on January 05, 2015.

The ordinance route was taken by the Union government after it was not able to introduce the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2014 in the winter session of the Parliament in December 2014

Lok Sabha on March  03,2015 passed Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015. The bill amends the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 in order to regulate the mining sector in the country.

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