India’s lower house has approved an amended bill to expand access to critical minerals and streamline mining operations, aiming to strengthen domestic supply and reduce dependence on imports, amid broad legislative changes in mineral regulation.
India’s lower house on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at widening access to critical minerals and giving mining lease holders more room to expand their operations, in a move the government says is meant to strengthen domestic supply and reduce reliance on imports.
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, would let lease holders seek state approval to add other minerals to an existing lease. For minerals listed as critical or strategic, including lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, gold and silver, no extra payment would be required. For other minerals, the holder would have to pay an amount equal to the royalty. In auctioned mines, the lease holder would also face the auction premium tied to the newly included mineral, although the Centre could alter those payment rules by notification.
According to the Business Standard and other reports on the draft law, the bill builds on earlier reforms intended to improve domestic output by making it easier to extend mining activity into adjoining areas and by easing rules on the sale of output from captive mines, which are tied to a specific industrial plant. The legislation also removes the existing 50% cap on surplus mineral sales from captive mines after end-use needs are met, and allows states to permit the sale of mineral dumps stored inside leased areas up to a date fixed by the Centre.
The bill also broadens the role of the National Mineral Exploration Trust, which would be renamed the National Mineral Exploration and Development Trust and allowed to finance mine and mineral development as well as exploration. It further creates a framework for a mineral exchange regulator, covering electronic platforms for trading minerals and metals. For deep-seated minerals found more than 200 metres below the surface, the proposal would allow a one-time increase in the area covered by a lease, of up to 30% for a composite licence and 10% for a mining lease.
The passage of the bill came alongside a busy day in Parliament, with the National Co-operative Development Corporation Amendment Bill and the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill also moving through the legislature. Separately, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Bill was sent to a 31-member joint parliamentary committee after fierce Opposition criticism, with ministers arguing that the changes are meant to improve transparency and protect the national interest.
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