Question : GRANT OF MINERAL CONCESSIONS

(a) whether the contribution of the mining industry to the country`s Gross Domestic Product has been stagnant at around 1.2 per cent for the past several years and has reported negative growth during 2011-12;

(b) if so, the facts thereof alongwith the reaction of the Government thereto;

(c) the details of proposals recommended by the State Governments and approved by the Union Government for grant of mineral concessions in respect of various minerals including iron-ore during each of the last three years and the current year, State-wise;

(d) the number of mines where the mining operations have commenced during the said period, State-wise;

(e) whether various proposals for mining leases are lying pending with the State Governments and the Union Government for approval; and

(f) if so, the details thereof, State-wise indicating their period and reasons for pendency alongwith the measures taken/ proposed to be taken by the respective Government for clearance of pending proposals?

MINISTER OF THE STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF MINES (SHRI DINSHA PATEL)

(a) & (b): As per available information, the estimates GDP at factor cost (at 2004-05 prices) the contribution of mining and quarrying sector in the GDP stood at 2.31% for 2009-10, 2.24% for 2010-11 and 2.05% for 2011-12. Central Statistical Organization has estimated that the contribution of mining and quarrying sector may decrease by 2.2% in 2011-12.This decrease can be attributed to lower production of Natural Gas, iron ore, manganese ore, chromites, gold, barites, gypsum as compared to previous year. The Government is seeking to bring in several policy measures, including greater transparency, proper accounting of mineral transaction in order to streamline regulation of mining activities, and improving legislative environment for attracting investments in the mining sector.

(c): The number of prior approvals conveyed by the Central Government to the State Government for grant of mineral concessions for minerals listed in First Schedule to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, on recommendations of the State Governments during last three years and the current year are given State wise at Annexure I.

(d): As per available information, the number of mines for all major minerals (excluding coal minerals) where the mining operations have commenced during the last three years is given at Annexure II.

(e): State-wise details of the proposals for grant of mining leases pending with the State Governments and the cases recommended for prior approval of the Central Government by the State Government in the Ministry of Mines are at Annexure III.

(f): State Governments have been requested to set up State Coordination-cum-Empowered Committees for early disposal of pending cases of mineral concessions, which is monitored in quarterly meetings in Ministry of Mines. In order to facilitate faster disposal, guidelines for streamlining the process of grant of mineral concessions have been issued to the State Governments. While the Central Government has displayed details on the current status of mineral concessions on website of the Ministry of Mines, similar facility is still lacking in the State Governments. However, the State Governments have attributed the pendency generally to litigations and incomplete documentation/ information by the applicants.

ANNEXURE I MENTIONED IN REPLY TO UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4716 FOR REPLY ON 04.05.2012 Prior Approvals for Mineral Concessions conveyed in the period 1/4/2009 TO 3/5/2012

STATE	2009-2010	2010-2011	2011-2012	2012(upto 3.5.2012)	Total

ANDHRA PRADESH	32	1	5	0	38

CHATTISGARH	9	7	10	0	26

GUJARAT	1	1	1	0	3

JHARKHAND	2	2	2	0	6

KARNATAKA	4	16	8	0	28

KERALA	3	1	0	0	4

MADHYA PRADESH	83	35	51	2	171

MAHARASHTRA	25	0	2	0	27

MANIPUR	0	0	6	0	6

ORISSA	3	3	0	0	6

RAJASTHAN	24	9	9	0	42

UTTAR PRADESH	4	0	0	0	4

TOTAL	190	75	94	2	361

STATE	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12

Andhra Pradesh	9	2	1

Jharkhand	1	0	0

Meghalaya	2	1	1

Uttranchal	2	12	0

Himachal Pradesh	1	0	0

Odisha	0	1	0

Karnataka	2	5	0

Kerala	2	5	0

Madhya Pradesh	7	11	2

Maharastra	1	1	0

Chattisgarh	3	2	3

Gujarat	6	23	2

Tamil Nadu	22	9	9

Rajasthan	25	15	3

S.No.	State	No. of proposals for mining leases	No. of proposals for prior approval	pending with the State Governments	for mining leases pending with the	Ministry of Mines.

1	Andhra Pradesh	58	3

2	Chhattisgarh	738	11

3	Goa	93	0

4	Gujarat	3607	12

5	Haryana	419	0

6	Himachal Pradesh	11	0

7	Jharkhand	3241	0

8	Karnataka	16378	16

9	Kerala	43	2

10	Madhya Pradesh	729	19

11	Maharashtra	57	14

12	Orissa	1695	0

13	Rajasthan	0	20

14	Tamil Nadu	1072	19

Total	28141	116