INVC NEWS
Cape Town South Africa,
Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union Minister for Mines and Steel, Government of India inaugurated the Indian Pavilion on 10th February at MINING INDABA 2015 at Cape Town, South Africa. The Minister was accompanied by Shri Rajendra Shukla, Minister for Mines, Energy, Mineral Resources and Public Information, Government of Madhya Pradesh. The delegation led by Shri Tomar consisted of senior officers of the Ministry and the representatives of various industry associations.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Minister had two critical bi-lateral meetings with the Ministerial delegation led by Hon Margaret Mhango Mwanakatwe, Minister of Economics & Trade of Zambia and Hon. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy of Equatorial Guinea. In the bi-lateral meetings, the two countries recognized the importance of enhanced cooperation in the field of trade, business, technology, exploration and capacity building. It was agreed upon by the two delegations to enter into an MoU for the said purpose. The countries also agreed to revive the Joint Permanent Commission and enhance the exchange of official and business delegations.
Shri Tomar, the Minister of Mines and Steel, Government of India handed over the draft of the MoU covering the proposal for further cooperation to the Government of Zambia and Equatorial Guinea.
In the meetings, the Minister highlighted the recent amendments made to the mining laws and regulations in India. He informed that these amendments would help in bringing in transparency in allocation of minerals through auction route. He also stated that to eliminate the delays in getting approvals and clearances there has been devolution of further powers to provincial governments. The processes have been made simpler. In order to provide stability, the tenure of the lease has been extended to 50 years from the current lease life of 30 years. Also, in continuation with the new government’s commitment to devolve powers to provinces and make the processes simple, the list of minor minerals has been enhanced from 24 to 54.
The members of participating countries expressed confidence in the new legal regime introduced by central government. In their reply addressed to the Minister, Central Government; the two governments agreed to revive the MoU based upon the broad principles shared with each other; including the transfer of know-how, technology and expertise
