Bills to auction mines and coal blocks passed

The NDA government heaved a sigh of relief after the Upper House of Parliament cleared the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill 2015 on Friday. The House also cleared the supporting amendments in the Mines and Minerals Act - Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Amendment Bill, 2015. With both Houses passing the Bills, it will now go to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent.

The current session of Parliament also saw the passage of amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act and Insurance Act. The government had first taken the Ordinance route for all these Bills and had to face criticism for doing so.

Meanwhile, Opposition resistance has delayed the passage of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2015. It is likely to be taken up for voting in the Rajya Sabha when the House meets post recess. The Ordinance however will lapse on April 5 but the government is likely to issue an amended Ordinance to ensure continuity.

The National Democratic Alliance does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. Meanwhile, the Opposition has been very vocal about its reservations on the Bill. Recently, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had led a delegation of 24 MPs to the Rashtrapati Bhawan to lodge their protest and seek the President's intervention.

The allies of NDA from Maharashtra - Shiv Sena and SKP - too are not on the same page over the issue. These parties have called the Bill "anti-farmer".

In an effort to reconcile with the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already allowed a few changes in the Bill. But it has not yet yielded the desired result forcing the NDA to mull on a joint session of Parliament to pass the Bill.

Meanwhile, the government has set in motion the reforms in the mining sector with the passage of bills to related to the sector. On Friday, the government managed to gain support from regional political parties like TMC and BJD for the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015. These political parties run the governments in states where mineral mining projects are on, and the Bill is expected to benefit them.

The MMDR Act will fix percentage of revenue generated from mining on the development of the local area. This was one of the demands of these states, especially to counter the Naxal movement in those areas. New rules will not allow the renewal of the any mining concessions, but all mines will go under auctions. The government has already identified 199 mines.

Meanwhile, the new coal act will allow the participation of the private players and legitimise the ongoing auctions.