Mr Dinsha Patel minister for mining in consultative committee meeting attached to his ministry said that India is one of the ten mineral rich countries where development of mining industry holds great promise for the growth and development of the country in general and people in particular. At the same time, exploration, development, production and disposal of minerals affect the environment and ecology of the mineral area. More so, mining of minerals has always resulted in varying degrees of environmental degradation and has impacted the society around mining areas, including displacement of persons.
Mr Patel informed the Members that the high level committee recommended a Sustainable Development Framework modeled on the lines of International Council of Mining and Metals and International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Further, the high level committee recognizing the need to take into account the global trends in sustainable development recommended preparation of SDF specially tailored to Indian context taking into account the work done and being done in ICMM and IUCN.
He further said that SDF would compose of principles, reporting initiatives and good practice guidelines for the three sectors of Indian mining i.e. SME, captive and large stand alone sectors. Such a SDF would be applicable to mining operations in India, and the same would be monitored through a regulatory mechanism. The Committee also held that mining should contribute to the economic, social and cultural well-being of indigenous host populations and local communities by creating stakeholder interest in mining operations for the Project Affected Persons.
Mr Patel said that the SDF framework incorporates not only regulatory requirements, but goes beyond that and recommends practices and best in class aspects to address the challenges of sustainable development more fully. It provides a path towards achieving sustainable development aided by guidance steps, measurable outcomes and reporting and assurance. The SDF provides guidance for the mining companies to improve performance on environmental and social aspects, however, over time it can also become the common benchmark against which all mining operations may be evaluated in terms of their comparative performance on sustainable development terms. The SDF will need to be used by mining companies to demonstrate commitment to sustainable development, and may be submitted to regulators at the time of seeking clearance or renewal or extension. Investors and financers may use this to assess risk and could additionally use it to demand better performance of the associated mining operations. Once this SDF is accepted, its use can be determined through more focused consultations and seeking consensus. The outcomes of adopting SDF in the long term are likely to include, reduced environmental and social conflicts in mining areas; clarity for stakeholders on risk level in mining lease areas, delays in obtaining clearances, clustering of small operators to become more competitive and compliant, strong monitoring and assurance systems and reporting on governance and ethical practices.
The Minister informed the Members that the government has appointed ERM India Pvt Ltd as a consultant to develop a SDF for the mining sector (non-coal, non-fuel) in India. Moreover, a working group constituted in the Ministry of Mines for this purpose has been monitoring the progress in the preparation of SDF.
