Cabinet approves National Mineral Exploration Policy - (29 Jun 2016)

MANU/PIBU/0510/2016

Mines and Minerals

The Union Cabinet approved the National Mineral Exploration Policy to encourage participation of the private sector.

Under the policy, the Ministry of Mines will auction exploration blocks to private sector entities. It will be done on a revenue sharing basis, in hopes that exploration will yield auction-able resources. Alternatively, failure to find resources will mean part reimbursement of costs by the government.

A National Geoscientific Data Repository will be set up collate all baseline and mineral exploration information generated by various government agencies and mineral concession holders in a geospatial database. The data will be placed in the public domain and will be available free of charge.

The Geological Survey of India already provides a wealth of geological maps for public consumption, however, many of the maps published are decades old.

Tags : NATIONAL MINERAL EXPLORATION POLICY MINING DATABASE