




































Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal 3 (1): 103–106, January 2020 

 
CONVERSATIONS: National Mineral Policy 2019 — balancing 
stakeholder interests and concerns  
 

A Business-friendly New Mineral Policy 
 

Pradeep Kumar Jain   
 
1. INTRODUCTION 

The use of natural resources, including minerals, is the backbone of global 
economics and in turn of human development and well-being. Mineral 
wealth, though finite and non-renewable in the long term, is a major 
resource for development (Jain, 2018). Mineral policies are crucial 
documents that governments use to establish goals of sustainable mineral 
raw material supply and steps leading towards the fulfilment of such goals. 
The journey of mineral policy in India is over seven decades now. It shows 
a blueprint of changing scenarios in mineral development from supply of 
raw materials to mineral base to sustainable development including 
intergeneration equality. The expected objectives under the National 
Mineral Policy 2019 are an increase in the production of minerals and a 
reduction in the trade deficit in the minerals sector. 

 

2. NATIONAL MINERAL POLICY 2019 — KEY CONCERNS 

As pointed out by Basu (this issue), the Hon'ble Supreme Court has noted 
the absence of any effective check on mining operations rendering the 
NMP 2008 ―only on paper‖. The aim of National Mineral Policy 2019 
(NMP) is to have a more effective, meaningful and implementable policy 

                                                           
 Indian Bureau of Mines, 2nd Floor Indira Bhavan, Civil Lines, Nagpur, Maharashtra 
440001; pkjain3661@gmail.com 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper are the personal opinion of the 
author. Indian Bureau of Mines, the organization where the author works does not 
endorse the views as expressed by the author nor does it assume any responsibility 
or liability for the same.. 

Copyright © Jain 2020. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 
International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0) by the author.  

Published by Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE), c/o Institute of Economic 
Growth, University Enclave, North Campus, Delhi 110007.  

ISSN: 2581-6152 (print); 2581-6101 (web). 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v3i1.92  

https://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=supreme+court
https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v3i1.92


Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [104] 

that brings in further transparency, better regulation and enforcement, 
balanced social and economic growth as well as sustainable mining 
practices. Focus on transparency, better regulations and enforcement, 
balanced growth and sustainability, and the grant of industry status to 
mining activity would boost the private sector‘s access to finance and 
acquisitions of mineral assets abroad. NMP is expected to ensure more 
effective regulation and will lead to sustainable development in the mining 
sector while addressing the issues of project affected persons especially 
those residing in tribal areas. However, some key concerns remain: 

 Creating exclusive mining zones and simplifying clearances – 
A key proposal that has been introduced in the NMP is the creation 
of ‗Exclusive Mining Zones‘ (EMZ). These ‗zones‘ will come with 
approved, in-principle clearances to ―curtail delay in commencement 
of mining operations‖. In-principle clearance is tied to forest land 
diversion for non-forestry purposes. As most major mining activities 
involve such land diversion, this will help to open up huge tracks of 
forest land to multiple companies and investors for mining in one 
go. The proposal will create major loopholes in obtaining successive 
clearances and permits by mining companies who will be part of the 
EMZ, and also in compliance of clearance and permit conditions. All 
in all, serious concerns arise about the impact of this proposal on 
forest ecology, wildlife corridors and forest-dependent communities. 

In fact, making the clearance process simpler and faster for the 
commencement of mining operations has been repeatedly 
emphasised in NMP. It even mentions that in case of delay, there 
shall be provisions for the project proponent to ―generate triggers at 
a higher level‖ in the online portal of clearances. The environmental 
clearance (EC) and forest clearance (FC) process over the past five 
years has been streamlined and simplified (making it single-window) 
for the convenience of the project proponents. In all these, the only 
exception that the NMP makes is for ‗critically fragile ecological 
areas‘, which, it says, should be declared as a ‗no-go‘ and ‗inviolate‘ 
area for the purpose of mining. For all other areas, ‗easing 
development‘ is the prerogative. Such initiation may avoid indefinite 
delay in acquiring clearances for land acquisition, forest, 
environment, wildlife, ecology etc., in implementing mining projects.  

 Community concerns addressed well but cannot lie as a 
postscript – Ensuring the welfare of mining-affected communities is 
one aspect that the policy refers to in a more articulate manner. 
Three things have been emphasised in this regard — relief and 
rehabilitation of the displaced and affected persons, devolution of 



[105] Pradeep Kumar Jain 

mining benefits to project affected persons through District Mineral 
Foundation (DMF) and ensuring the welfare of tribal communities. 
The NMP also emphasises on implementing all the provisions of 
rehabilitation and resettlement as outlined in the Right to Fair 
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation 
and Resettlement Act, 2013. 

However, given the penchant for easing mining and attracting 
investments, ensuring the welfare of communities can only become 
postscripts of such activities. If the government is serious about 
ensuring the welfare of people in mining areas and securing their 
rights, it must improve mechanisms of giving clearances, 
management of environmental pollution and preservation of natural 
resources, with which the lives and livelihoods of these people are 
intricately related. 

 

3. POLICY IMPLICATIONS 

The NMP is an ambitious statement of intent to revitalise India‘s mineral 
sector, that can catalyse sustained socio-economic growth. Ensuring 
environmental sustainability through responsible mining, while improving 
performance standards, is therefore a major development and policy 
priority of the mining sector (Jain et.al. 2016). NMP has tried to ensure 
more effective regulation for the mining sector development in future. To 
Kumar (this issue), the NMP 2019 is thus primarily a revision of the NMP 
of 2008 to incorporate these aspects.  The government should set up an 
independent ‗Minerals Audit Agency‘ to monitor all aspects of mining 
operations i.e. financial, social and environmental. 

The mining sector has long been mired in issues of unscientific mining 
methods, poor track records of environmental and social performance, and 
high instances of illegal activities. The regulatory environment, and capacity 
and accountability of our authorities, have also sustained this. Given this, 
the need to develop a new NMP was a timely proposition.  It was a crucial 
opportunity for the government to come up with a policy document that 
would guide the mining sector to function with utmost environmental and 
social responsibility, besides economic considerations. 

 

4. A BUSINESS-FRIENDLY POLICY 

Developing partnerships with stakeholders including state governments, 
mineral and mineral-based industries and various Ministries/ Departments 
of the Central Government concerned is necessary for development and 



Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [106] 

conservation of mineral resources and formulation of a strategy to ensure 
raw materials security. In one-and-a-half years, the policy that has finally 
been developed is actually one that is a win-win for mining companies and 
investors. While the document mentions that mining should be 
environmentally sustainable and equitable, there remain serious questions 
on how effective this policy will be in ensuring environmental protection, 
ecological conservation and in protecting people‘s rights in the mining 
areas. With a focus to ramp up mineral production massively, the new 
policy is largely guided by the penchant for ‗ease of doing businesses‘ and 
attracting investments. Ranjan (this issue) notes that NMP proposes to 
increase the production of minerals by 200 per cent in the next seven years. 
Several mechanisms have been proposed to ensure this. A proposal to set 
up ‗Minerals Audit Agency‘ will be the guiding and monitoring force to 
achieve the envisaged goal set for NMP.  

 

REFERENCES 

Jain, P.K. 2016. ―Reformation in mining Sector: A national perspective.‖ Mineral 
Economics 29 (2–3): 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-016-0093-4  

Jain, P.K., A. K. Ray, S. K. Sharma and R. N. Bedekar. 2018. ―An Overview of 
Indian Mining Legislative Reform.‖ The Indian Mining & Engineering Journal 57 (04): 
16-25. 

 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-016-0093-4

