The government is likely to introduce an amendment bill, which seeks to provide an auction of minerals mined offshore, in the next Parliament session, sources said.

“The hurdle is that the original Act for offshore mining does not provide for auctions of minerals. The auction is the policy now. So the Act needs to be amended,” the sources said.

The objective behind the move is to use the national wealth in the sea for the use of the people of the country, they pointed out.

The Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act was enacted in 2002.

However, not even a single rock could be mined out from the sea-bed mainly due to pending litigations.

“The consultations to amend the act are over and a bill is likely to be introduced in the forthcoming Monsoon session of Parliament,” they said.

The amendments will help in realizing the natural wealth which lies with the country along its coast.

Coal mine

The government is scaling up the annual production of SECL’s Gevra coal mine to 70 MT making it the largest, coal secretary Amrit Lal Meena said.

Gevra project of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) in Chhattisgarh recently became the first mine in the country to achieve 50 MT of coal production, the official said in a review meeting with the state-owned miner on Saturday.