Why is it in the News?

India’s Mines Ministry has proposed a new set of rules for the auction of offshore mineral blocks. It is also in the process of identifying such mineral blocks, including those in exclusive economic zones beyond territorial waters.

Context:

• To implement the amended Offshore Areas Mineral (Development & Regulation) Act, 2002 (OAMDR Act), the ministry has unveiled two draft rules:
  • Offshore Areas Mineral Auction Rules: These rules delineate provisions governing the auctioning of production leases.
  • Offshore Areas Existence of Mineral Resources Rules: These rules set forth norms for the exploration of minerals and deposits in offshore areas.

Offshore Areas Mineral (Development & Regulation) Act, 2002 (OAMDR Act):

• The OAMDR Act governs the development and regulation of mineral resources in India's territorial waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zones, and other maritime zones.

About Offshore Areas Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023:

• The Bill proposes amendments to the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002, governing mining activities in India's maritime zones.

Key highlights include:

• Empowering the government to reserve offshore areas without operating rights.
• Granting the administering authority the discretion to issue composite licenses or production leases to the government or a government company.
• Eliminating the provision for renewing production leases and setting a fixed fifty-year period, aligning with the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
• Mandating the grant of production leases to the private sector through competitive bidding.
• Allowing non-competitive bidding for operating rights in mineral-bearing areas reserved by the central government for government entities or corporations.
• Restricting the grant of exploration licenses or production leases for atomic minerals to government or government corporations.
• Introducing a four-year timeline for the commencement of production and dispatch after executing a composite license or production lease, with a two-year timeline (extendable by one year) for re-commencement after discontinuation.
• Authorizing the central government to establish rules for mineral conservation, systematic development, and environmental protection in offshore areas, preventing or controlling pollution from exploration or production operations.

India's Maritime Zone Mineral Resources:

• India's maritime zone hosts diverse mineral resources, including lime mud off the Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• Additionally, the region boasts construction-grade sand along the Kerala coast and heavy mineral placers in the inner-shelf and mid-shelf regions off Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
• Phosphorite is found in the Eastern and Western continental margins, while the Andaman Sea and Lakshadweep Sea house Polymetallic Ferromanganese (Fe-Mn) nodules and crusts.