The National Mineral Policy 2019, and What Sustainable Mining Means

In one line

A Government policy that calls minerals a shared inheritance held by the State as trustee for the people, and that binds nobody.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: the National Mineral Policy, 2019, of the Ministry of Mines, made for non-fuel and non-coal minerals, replaced the policy of 2008; its chapter 10 states that natural resources including minerals are a shared inheritance where the State is the trustee on behalf of the people to ensure that future generations receive the benefit of inheritance; and it deals in successive chapters with the regulation of minerals, the role of the State, prospecting and exploration, the data base, mining and mineral development including the protection of the environment, sustainable development, the welfare of project affected persons, mine closure, safety and mineral security, foreign trade and investment, fiscal aspects, research and development, inter-generational equity and an inter-ministerial mechanism.

The public trust, stated as policy

Chapter 10, inter-generational equity, in its own words. "There is a need to understand that natural resources, including minerals, are a shared inheritance where the state is the trustee on behalf of the people to ensure that future generations receive the benefit of inheritance. State Governments will endeavour to ensure that the full value of the extracted minerals is received by the State. However, for assessment of inter generational equity in respect of each mineral, a disaggregated approach shall be adopted considering aspects like reserves and resources and potential for reuse through recycling, which are relevant and suitable in the Indian context."

Three things are in that paragraph and each is worth stating separately.

The public trust doctrine, in the same words the Supreme Court used in M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath, AIRONLINE 1996 SC 711: the State is a trustee, not an owner. So the doctrine is judicial and executive policy at once, and a student who cites both is showing that it is settled rather than merely asserted.

The full value. A State should receive what the mineral is worth, which is the policy behind the auction reform of 2015.

And a disaggregated approach. Inter-generational equity is assessed mineral by mineral, taking account of the reserves and of the potential for recycling. That is an honest qualification: a mineral that can be recycled indefinitely is not exhausted in the same sense as one that cannot, and the policy says so.

The scheme of the policy

Chapter 2, regulation of minerals. Mining is to be conducted in a scientific and sustainable manner, and the regulatory agencies are to be strengthened with technology and manpower.

Chapter 3, the role of the State. The State is to facilitate, and to create an enabling environment rather than to be the principal miner.