"... State government shall impose a special condition in all the existing and future leases in the country for major minerals (excepting coal minerals)," the ministry wrote in a recent letter addressed to all state mines secretaries.
Coal blocks have been exempted from the directive. Delays in prospecting work to establish the in-place and recoverable reserves in the mining blocks -- some of which were awarded nearly a decade ago -- appear to be the motivation for the guideline issued to the state governments.
The Union ministry has suggested that the states fix a one-year time limit for mining lease areas smaller than 10 hectares and three years for leases measuring 10-50 hectares. In the case of licence areas spanning more than 50 hectares, it has called for a five-year time limit for prospecting work to be completed.
As per the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, the states are empowered to regulate mineral resources within their territory. They also have the power to grant licenses for exploitation of minerals, barring a few cases where explicit permission from the central government is required.
The states have also been asked to ensure that prospecting work is carried out in blocks where it has not been done at all, as well as acreages where the standards laid out in the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) were not followed.
What is more, mining lease owners were directed to submit a yearly report on the progress of prospecting work in their respective acreages, along with expenditure details, to the Chief Controller of Mines, Indian Bureau of Mines.
The states have also been asked to report action taken on half-yearly basis to the ministry for review.