Rajya Sabha passes ‘The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020’

The Rajya Sabha passed ‘The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020’, which proposes amendments to the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 and The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.

The Lok Sabha had passed this Bill last week and it will come into force after the President’s assent. It seeks to allow companies which do not possess any prior coal mining experience in India to participate in coal auctions. It also seeks to remove the ‘specified end-use criterion’ of the companies.