The Parliament passed amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act Tuesday. Addressing the upper house, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy said key reforms undertaken in the past decade have led to higher revenue.

“State governments used to earn Rs 68,000 crore from mining activities before reforms. Today, state governments earn Rs 6.85 lakh crore from them,” Reddy said.
er domestic coal production, Reddy said the country has saved around Rs 60,000 crore forex outgo due to increased domestic output.

Highlighting the growth of iron-ore production, Reddy said it has nearly doubled from 2014. “Iron ore production stood at 152 million tonne in 2014. This has risen to nearly 289 million tonnes,” Reddy informed the Rajya Sabha.

This latest MMDR Amendment proposes to increase the contributions from mining lease holders to a trust that funds exploration of critical minerals and development of supply chains.

It also allows using the accrued funds for overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets. Enabling provisions to operate a domestic minerals exchange have also been approved through this amendment.

Reddy also said a comprehensive audit of district mineral foundation (DMF) spends will be undertaken to ensure better utilisation of funds.