India’s parliamentary committee directs government to conduct faster environment clearances for new bauxite mines development

A committee of India’s parliament has recently noted that India is still far behind from exploring 80 per cent of its bauxite reserves, pointing out land acquisition issues, environment clearance and forest clearance as some of the prime constraints in the development of new bauxite mines. Therefore, the committee has asked the Indian government’s ministry of mines to conduct timely environment and forest clearances, land acquisition and consent to avoid hindrance in developing mines.

While talking about the challenges faced by domestic bauxite production companies, the committee has indicated that India’s most of the available resources have not been converted to proven reserves. The report presented by the committee reveals that only 17 per cent or 656 million tonnes of the total 3,896 million tonnes of bauxite resources are under ‘proven and probable’ category, while the remaining 3,240 million tonnes have remained unexplored.

“So, here we require a lot of exploration activities. The auction regime has started in the last five years. However, the auction has not been done by the state governments. So, this is another kind of challenge,” the ministry told the committee.

On March 22, the standing committee on coal, mines and steel, led by a Member of Parliament Rakesh Singh, also noted that in spite of having wide applications, the use of aluminium in India is limited primarily to the electric and electronic sectors.

But thanks to multiple initiatives of the Indian government, such as 100 per cent rural electrification, Housing for All, Smart Cities, national infrastructure pipeline, renewable energy and scheme for electric vehicles, consumption of aluminium is expected to boost in the country.

The committee has also commanded the ministry of mines to render continuous support for the development of more bauxite mines, given aluminium is the second-largest metals market in the world after iron and steel. In India, aluminium production during FY2021 stood at about 3.61 million tonnes (nearly 5.5 per cent of the global output), while the consumption was about 3.40 million tonnes.

To boost per capita aluminium usage in India, the committee has suggested the union ministry of mines to coordinate and collaborate with the ministries of railways, defence, transport, power, and civil aviation to identify the areas where aluminium can replace other metals without compromising quality, strength, and cost.

Lastly, the committee has also lauded India’s target of doubling its mineral production in the next five years but noted that “urgent measures should be taken for early clearances on procedural, administrative, legal and environmental fronts for the uninterrupted development of the bauxite mines in the country.”

Lastly, while appreciating the mineral reforms undertaken by the central government to open up the mineral sector such as the Mines and Mineral (Development & Regulations) (Amendment) Act, 2021, the committee has said, ”greater transparency should be ensured in auction of mineral concessions with pre-embedded clearances … to achieve optimal utilisation of India’s mineral resources for rapid industrial growth and socio-economic development.”

source https://www.alcircle.com/news/indias-parliamentary-committee-directs-government-to-conduct-faster-environment-clearances-for-new-bauxite-mines-development-77970