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Hindustan Times February 28, 2020 Chhattisgarh mining projects violating forest act: Activists Mining projects in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Arand forests are bypassing gram sabha consent for forest diversion in blatant violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006, some sarpanches and environmental activists have alleged. The latest among several such attempts is a notice sent to four gram panchayats seeking their “no-objection certificate” (NOC) for forest diversion of about 2012.88 hectares (ha). The Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006 make gram sabha, or an assembly of all village adults, consent mandatory for diversion of forests under their jurisdiction.  The forest conservation rules specify that the district collector completes the process of recognising forest rights of people who live in the project area.  The collector is also mandated to obtain the consent of each gram sabha having jur...

Reuters Ernest Scheyder The U.S. Army plans to fund construction of rare earths processing facilities, part of an urgent push by Washington to secure domestic supply of the minerals used to make military weapons and electronics, according to a government document seen by Reuters. The move would mark the first financial investment by the U.S. military into commercial-scale rare earths production since World War Two’s Manhattan Project built the first atomic bomb. It comes after President Donald Trump earlier this year ordered the military to update its supply chain for the niche materials, warning that reliance on other nations for the strategic minerals could hamper U.S. defenses. China, which refines most of the world’s rare earths, has threatened to stop exporting the specialized minerals to the United States, using its monopoly as a cudgel in the ongoing trade spat between the world’s two largest economies. “The U.S. rare earths industry needs big help to compete...

Written by Vikas Srivastava | Mumbai | Updated: February 19, 2019 ArcelorMittal has offered lenders Rs 4,800 crore for Essar’s 2×600 MW Mahan thermal power project in Madhya Pradesh, surpassing the Essar promoters’ one-time settlement offer of Rs 3,500 crore, a senior Power Finance Corporation official said. Rajeev Sharma, CMD of PFC, which is one of the consortium lenders to Essar Power’s MP project, said, “We are in process of evaluating the offer. We will offer promoters the first right of refusal, if they will match or exceed the offer, we will select the highest offer. As a transparent mechanism to choose the bidder we will open the window for a day and the highest bidder will be chosen under the reverse auction process. We are hopeful of closing the deal in the next 2-3 months.” In September 2018, ICICI Bank, the lead lender for the Essar Power’s Mahan project, moved NCLT seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings against Essar Power MP. However, after the ape...

Written by Avinash Nair, Updated: August 9, 2018 7:15:20 am In the first-ever e-auctions for granite blocks in Gujarat, a real-estate developer from Ahmedabad and a businessman from Palanpur were among the winning bidders for the 10 granite blocks in Mehsana district. The auction for phase-I of granite blocks that closed on Wednesday evening not only sprung up new entrants in the mining sector, like the Ahmedabad-based Safal Constructions Pvt Ltd and Palanpur-based Arun Digital Corporation, but also saw the state government mop up royalty amounting to an estimated Rs 696 crore during the 30-year-lease period. “This is more than double the amount of royalty collected before e-auctions were introduced. The previous allotment regime had no concept of premium and the additional income now is due to the premium quoted by the bidder,” said Roopwant Singh, Commissioner of Geology and Mining department, Government of Gujarat. Among all the successful bidders, Safal Constructi...

Business Standard Reuters, New Delhi, February 07, 2018 The Supreme Court has quashed all iron ore mining permits in Goa, one of the country's top producing areas for the steel raw material, local television channels reported on Wednesday. Mining in the state, known for its low-quality iron ore, will stop after March 15 and new licences will need to be given, the court said. Activists have been campaigning for a ban on iron ore mining in the state on environmental grounds. Court action against illegal mining shut the industry in Goa for more than two years from 2012. Goa had exported about 50 million tonnes of iron ore a year before the ban was imposed. The latest ban is a blow for companies such as Vedanta Resources that have mines in the state. Most of Goa's iron ore is exported to China as Indian steel companies do not have the technology to use them. Reference; http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/supreme-court-cancels-all...