Union Cabinet approves National Mineral Exploration Policy

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP).
The NMEP primarily aims at accelerating the exploration activity in the country through enhanced participation of the private sector.
Key Facts

• The policy seeks to uncover full mineral potential in order to put the nation’s mineral resources (non-fuel and non-coal) to best use and maximize sectoral contribution to the Indian economy.
• It emphasizes on making available baseline geoscientific data of world standards in the public domain, quality research in a public-private partnership (PPP).
• It also seeks to pave way for the special initiatives for search of deep-seated and concealed mineral deposits.
• It also seeks to undertake quick aerogeophysical surveys of country and creation of dedicated geoscience database etc.
• The Union Ministry of Mines will carry out auctioning of identified exploration blocks for exploration by private sector.
• It will be done on the revenue sharing basis in case their exploration leads to auctionable resources. The revenue will be borne by the successful bidder of those auctionable blocks.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2016