Leg-up for lithium hunt as LS passes mining Bill

MMDR Amendment Bill seeks pvt participation in critical mineral production too

- Subhash Narayan

The government pressed ahead with its legislative agenda in the monsoon session of Parliament, getting Lok Sabha approval for the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Amendment) Bill, 2023 which seeks larger participation of the private sector in mineral exploration and production, including that for sought-after lithium.

The reform initiative in the Bill brings lithium out from the list of restrictive atomic minerals where permission to mine could only be granted by the Centre to government companies. The change would allow auction of this critical mineral, used extensively for making batteries for electric vehicles, by the private sector.

The Bill empowers the central government to exclusively auction mining lease and composite exploration licence for certain critical high value minerals such as gold, silver, platinum and copper.